(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“For what reason did the people take to the streets to demand the Shah’s departure? I assure you that if we asked the question today, the majority of Iranians wouldn’t know how to respond. For liberty? I don’t think so. For a better life? I don’t think that’s it either. Because starting in 1979, they have been far less free, their lives more difficult than before, and yet they don’t rise up. So why was this country handed over to mullahs? In exchange for what? No one knows.”
Our narrator fondly remembers life in his seaside village the summer he was thirteen years old. He always awaited the arrival of his older distant cousin, with whom he was quite infatuated with. We enjoy the summer along with him, as he describes his youthful scheming, friends, family, and the colorful scenery along the Caspian coast. Though he was from a working-class family, life was good.
He is later tormented by his decision to become a left-wing activist, trying to free his country from the Shah and Western imperialism. “We wanted to defend the country against an enemy that we had invented ourselves. We were persisting in a revolution that was leading the country to chaos. “
He became a political fugitive, constantly on the run, as many of his friends had already died. He felt like a fraud. The once vibrant seaside town became empty, dark, and dreary.
Through this fictional story, My Part of Her sheds light on many questions I had regarding the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. The author, who has been in exile since the age of twenty, explains this conundrum in a very personal way with captivating characters, graphic events and a spellbinding story. This is all enhanced with his (and the translator’s) artistry of language.
Do not skip over the book’s preface as it gives insight to the events, characters, and their motivations. Dina Nayeri, who was a small child during that time and subsequently fled the country with her family, gives her perspective on the errors students and activists made in their protests against the Shah.
My Part of Her is an engrossing story along with essential lessons from the past that we must not forget. Studying History enables us to learn from our mistakes as to n
