Friday's Pick!

My Life as a Traitor by Zarah Ghahramani

In 2001, 19 year old Zarah Ghahramani was grabbed off the streets of Iran and taken by soldiers to the infamous Evin prison. Here she was held for nearly a month, in solitary confinement. How did this “Persian princess” end up here? Political activism while in Tehran University. During her stay in Evin, unlike others who were also in the prison, Zarah suffered little physical abuse/torture; she assumed this was due to a former boyfriend who had friends in the government. However, Zarah was not let off lightly; instead, she was tortured mentally. In one instance, she was taken from her cell, blindfolded for hours in an unknown room, tied to a chair. Left alone, faced with solitude and uncertainty, wondering what was going to happen to her, was torture in itself. What was she doing in this room? Were they going to rape her? Beat her? KILL her? She longed for the comfort of her own solitary cell, something she knew, was familiar with; something that was a constant in this living hell.

The book alternates chapters of Zarah's happy family life (even amid the Iran-Iraq war)and her prison experiences. A really good, mesmerizing story about the violation of human rights, and the courage one young woman exerts.