Until We Are Free
My Fight For Human Rights in Iran
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
'POWERFUL AND SOMETIMES SHOCKING ...' SUNDAY TIMES
In this powerful book, Dr Shirin Ebadi, Iranian human rights lawyer and activist, tells of her fight for reform inside Iran, and the devastating backlash she faced after winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Having fought tirelessly for democracy, equality before the law and freedom of speech, Ebadi became a global voice of inspiration. Yet, inside her own country, her life has been plagued by surveillance, intimidation and violence.
Until We Are Free tells shocking stories of how the Iranian authorities eventually forced her into exile. Her sister and daughter were detained, her husband was enmeshed in an espionage plot with another woman, her Nobel medal was stolen from her safety deposit box, and her offices in Tehran were ransacked.
An illuminating depiction of life in Iran today as well as the account of Ebadi's personal struggle to uphold her work and keep her family together, Until We Are Free is ultimately a work of hope and perseverance under circumstances of exceptional difficulty.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The story of Iran is the story of my life," writes human rights activist and Nobel laureate Ebadi (Iran Awakening) at the start of her memoir, which paints a revealing portrait of the state of political oppression in Iran. It begins with the 1979 revolution, when the author, under Ayatollah Khomeini's regime, lost her judgeship simply for being a woman. She uses spare, spirited prose to chronicle the start of her career as a pro bono defender of human rights, working with the most vulnerable women, children, and dissidents as the government subjected her to an increasing amount of harassment and scrutiny. She was exiled in 2009 on the eve of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second term. The Iranian government has since redirected their intimidation schemes toward her family in Iran, coercing her husband and arresting her sister. Yet she continues to fight for Iranians' human rights, finding refuge in London, where she currently lives. Ebadi's tone is distinctly more sorrowful toward the end of the book, where she recounts her years away from Iran. She reflects on the Arab Spring and the many ways the Iranian state hides the costs of its policies from its citizens; despite this corruption, she feels homesick and dislocated in exile. She is an inspiring figure, and her suspenseful, evocative story is unforgettable.
