Iran Awakening: One Woman's Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • The first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize provides an eyewitness account of her stand at the crossroads of history in this moving and unforgettable memoir.

“Riveting . . . [Iran Awakening] sometimes reads like a police thriller, its drama heightened by [Shirin] Ebadi’s determination to keep up the quotidian aspects of her family life.”—The Washington Post Book World (Best Books of the Year)

“A testament to how a single, inspired voice can rise above the cacophony . . . the book should be required reading.”—The Nation

In Iran Awakening, Dr. Shirin Ebadi recounts her public career and reveals her private self: her faith, her experiences, and her desire to lead a traditional life even while serving as a rebellious voice in a land where such voices are muted or brutally silenced.

Ebadi describes her girlhood in Tehran, her education, and her early professional success as Iran’s most accomplished female jurist—until hardline clerics demoted her after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. She eventually fought her way back as a human rights lawyer, defending women and children in politically charged cases that most lawyers were afraid to represent.

In reading Ebadi’s story, we come to see a devoted daughter, wife, and mother. Ebadi is an everywoman, albeit one who has braved imprisonment, harassment, and assassination attempts, all for the dream of a better Iran for her daughters and for generations to come. For her bravery and selflessness, she has been embraced as a national hero and as a key player in helping to forge Iran’s destiny, whatever it may be.