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A Bitter Veil: An American Woman Trapped in Khomeini's Iran
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A Bitter Veil: An American Woman Trapped in Khomeini's Iran
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A Bitter Veil: An American Woman Trapped in Khomeini's Iran
Audiobook9 hours

A Bitter Veil: An American Woman Trapped in Khomeini's Iran

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

Anna, a young American studying in Chicago falls in love with fellow-student Nouri, the son of a wealthy Iranian. Anna, whose parents are divorced, eagerly moves to Tehran where she marries and is embraced by Nouri's family. A few months later, however, in February 1978, the Shah is deposed and the Islamic Republic of Iran is formed. Life turns upside down for the couple as men, but especially women, are restricted in their activities, clothing, and behavior. Arrests and torture are frequent, education for women is prohibited, and Anna cannot travel without her husband's permission. Although she tries to conform to please her husband and new family, Anna chafes under the oppression, while Nouri seems to embrace it. Anna becomes desperate to return to America, but Nouri refuses to allow it. Tension builds until a shattering event changes everything and plunges Anna into a tumultuous and dangerous vortex, raising the possibility she will never leave Iran alive.

Hellmann crafts a tragically beautiful story that is both subtle and vibrant. The author does an amazing job of never by sacrificing the quality of her storytelling... A bleak and heart-wrenching tale that will stay with the reader long after they finish. Bryan VanMeterCrimespree Magazine

The Iranian revolution provides the backdrop for this meticulously researched, fast-paced stand-alone… A significant departure from the author’s Chicago-based mystery series, this political thriller will please fans and newcomers alike. Publishers Weekly

Readers will be drawn in through the well-researched inside look at Iran in the late 1970s and gain perspective on what the people in that time and place endured. A Bitter Veil is so thought-provoking that it especially would be a great title for book clubs. Amy AlessioBookReporter.com

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 30, 2012
ISBN9780984014187
Author

Libby Fischer Hellmann

Libby Fischer Hellmann left a career in broadcast news in Washington, DC and moved to Chicago 35 years ago, where she, naturally, began to write gritty crime fiction. Twelve novels and twenty short stories later, she claims they’ll take her out of the Windy City feet first. She has been nominated for many awards in the mystery and crime writing community and has even won a few. With the addition of Jump Cut in 2016, her novels include the now five-volume Ellie Foreman series, which she describes as a cross between “Desperate Housewives” and “24;” the hard-boiled 4-volume Georgia Davis PI series, and three stand-alone historical thrillers that Libby calls her “Revolution Trilogy.” Last fall The Incidental Spy,  a historical novella set during the early years of the Manhattan Project at the U of Chicago was released. Her short stories have been published in a dozen anthologies, the Saturday Evening Post, and Ed Gorman’s “25 Criminally Good Short Stories” collection.  In 2005 Libby was the national president of Sisters In Crime, a 3500 member organization dedicated to the advancement of female crime fiction authors. More at http://libbyhellmann.com * She has been a finalist twice for the Anthony, three times for Foreword Magazines Book of the Year, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Daphne and has won the Lovey multiple times.

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Reviews for A Bitter Veil

Rating: 4.256756864864864 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Historical fiction covering the unrest in the 1970s that led to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the overthrow of the Shah of Iran's dynasty and the establishment of an Islamic republic under the Ayatollah Khomeini . Anna, a young American woman falls in love with a Nouri, rich Iranian student who, despite his background, believes that Iran would benefit from democracy. They get married and move to Iran where his father, businessman in the oil industry and with links to the Shah, gets him a job with a French company. They continue to live in the lap of luxury even as tension continues to grow in Iran.Their lives and that of their family and friends are disrupted by the strikes, demonstrations and ultimate increasingly religious tone to the country. As Shariah law is established under this new government, Americans like Anna, are increasingly at risk of imprisonment for various crimes, some fictitious and some real. An American woman who marries an Iranian man has her passport surrendered to the Iranian government, and is unable to leave the country without the permission of her husband.As things continue to escalate out of control in the country, so does Anna and Nouri's marriage. What was once a loving relationship unravels in the confusion of those who were once the elite in the country, trying to make sense of the country they still loved but no longer understood, of those who had enjoyed religious freedom now being coerced into Islamic practices they did not previously believe in. In Anna and Nouri's case, that confusion leads to not just in the destruction of their marriage, but in tragedy.I wasn't terribly impressed with the book when I first started it, but as it progressed and especially when the author moved into the history of the revolution and the changes in the various characters, I was completely in her grip and couldn't put the book down until the conclusion.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Biographical- but more of a Nation rather than an individual?One of the first things that struck me as I read this novel was that I wondered just how much of this was truly a work of fiction, and how much was actually closer to a memoir or biographical account, then as I read on and much more of the content had to do with the country and culture, I changed my mind.The retelling of the story is a circular one that starts out with Anna being told of and arrested for the murder of her husband, and then we follow the progress of the three years leading up to and beyond that point. It is a very effective way of setting the tone of fear and oppression that follows through much of the rest of the text, at least once Anna arrives in Iran with her new, Iranian husband.Hellmann makes extremely good use of sensual images, of heat, of noise and colour for example that the reader can easily relate to, and an extremely realistic depiction of culture shock all help to further immerse the reader into Anna's plight and adds to the 'edge of the seat' enjoyment of the novel. Even though the characters are perhaps exaggerated a little, it does not seem to at all detract from the emotional investment a reader develops for the character. Rather it serves to highlight the differences and extremes of religious and political beliefs that exist and which can have such a devastating effect on a place and her people, as well as on individuals, and to keep readers turning pages from beginning to end.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    First Line: Anna was deeply asleep, which was unusual for her.It is 1979. The Shah has fled, and the Ayatollah Khomeini is in control of Iran. A Bitter Veil opens as Anna is awakened early one morning by the pounding of Republican Guards at the door of her home in Tehran. When she opens the door, she is immediately whisked away to prison, charged with the death of her husband Nouri.Anna and Nouri met while studying in Chicago. They fell passionately in love, married, and moved to Tehran, living close to Nouri's wealthy family. They'd barely begun their married life when everything is thrown into turmoil. Everyday existence becomes increasingly restricted, none of the familiar Western rules apply, and Anna's marriage begins to fall apart as Nouri's behavior becomes more and more erratic. Women are required to wear hijab. Random arrests, torture, even Nouri's contempt become the norm. Now Nouri is dead, Anna is alone-- in prison in a hostile country-- and there is no one she can trust.This book has an explosive start then immediately changes gears to explain how Anna and Nouri met and came to be living in Tehran. This "filling in the details" is fascinating stuff because we learn the two main characters' personalities as well as the unbelievably tense atmosphere in Iran during the overthrow of the Shah. As Anna stumbles in learning the unfamiliar traditions of her new family and her new country, so do we. But always lurking in the background is the knowledge that Nouri is dead... and Anna is in prison. The need to know Anna's fate keeps the pages turning to the very end.Hellmann's research is impressive. She put me in the midst of the Iranian Revolution to watch a naive young outsider become trapped by things beyond her control. What I liked the most about this book is that it's so complex. Anna isn't automatically the heroine; these things don't happen to her simply because she's a poor American girl trapped in an evil Islamic country. Anna acts first and thinks about the consequences when it's too late-- and while I may have wanted to sit her down and talk some sense to her, I never felt contempt for Anna because there are good reasons for her reckless behavior.Although this is Anna's story, Hellman also shows how the frightening political unrest affects the many Iranian characters in the book. Some fall under the Ayatollah's spell. Some escape. And some are unbelievably kind.If you're in the mood for a fast-paced thriller with complex characters that engages both your mind and your emotions, I advise you to get a copy of Libby Fischer Hellmann's A Bitter Veil.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Western woman marries handsome Iranian student and returns to his homeland with him, just in time for the revolution.This was a real 3 star for me. I liked it well enough, but not more. It's well written, clearly well researched, and it certainly kept me turning pages. It just felt like it went off the rails at some point, and devolved into an weird murder mystery with a slightly too deus ex machina ending. For me at least.Right up until then, I would have rated it somewhat higher probably. But since I can't unread that part, well, so be it.If you're interested in the Iranian revolution (it's really a fascinating time and place to read about) I can highly recommend Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis which, despite being non-fiction, a graphic novel and from the perspective of a child, is really rather spectacular. If you're interested in life as a western woman in the middle east (and particularly how one might extricate oneself from there, a perspective I was hoping would be covered in this book, but was instead almost ignored), well there's plenty of those, probably the most well known being Betty Mahmoody's "Not Without My Daughter" (you may well have seen the film which I found a little bit hysterical, but the book is actually rather good).I'd consider reading more by this author though, as said, the writing is good and for most of the book she had me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I was sent this audio book for free by the author; thank you, Libby!

    I forgot, while reading this book, that it was fiction, as it felt like a real story. The book was obviously well- researched. I was only slightly older than Anna when all these events happened in Iran. It's about Anna, a college student in Chicago, the daughter of a German physicist father and a French mother (her parents were divorced and she lived with her father, mainly), who meets Nouri Samedi, a wealthy Iranian engineering grad student. They fall in love and after her graduation, they decide to go to Iran and get married, and start a life there. Anna is hoping for a wonderful family life, something she felt she never had with her own family. But political events are happening in Iran, and the setting is just prior to the Shah's fall. At first, her life in Iran is wonderful, her in-laws embrace her, her husband is loving and doting, and Anna starts to make friends with another American woman, also the wife of an Iranian. As all the political upheaval starts to happen, things change in the Samedi household and Nouri doesn't know how to cope with the change. He and his family turn against all things American, including Anna. My only complaint is how quickly Nouri changes for the worst, and without any explanation about why he suddenly falls out of love with Anna. He doesn't talk with her and I'm confused why everything is suddenly her fault, and, literally, it happens almost overnight. I was just as distressed as Anna was, over how horrible her life becomes. I was so angry with Nouri!

    The book is beautifully written and I feel like I learned so much about the time, the politics, and Iran as a country, and about the people. I was wary of Anna marrying Nouri and moving to Iran from the beginning, as I immediately thought about the book, Not Without My Daughter, and knew what dangers Anna would face once married and living in that society, and how her rights as a woman would be eroded.

    I highly recommend this book, and I loved the audio narration. I could hardly wait for my daily commute to/from work each day, just so I could listen! Kudos to the author for a wonderful, believable story about true events that I remember so well happening in my youth.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When the book focused on the relationship between Anna and Nouri, it was excellent. This is about the third book I've come across that described a normal-seeming Middle Eastern man in America turning into a totally different kind of husband when he brings his wife back home. I realize this is fiction, so I wonder if it's just a good hook for a story or if it's really something that happens. The inclusion of a "whodunit" element seemed minor and unnecessary, distracting from the heart of the novel. But it's an exciting, interesting book to read, with some good characterizations and a look at life in Tehran at the time of the Khomeini revolution.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Iran is in the news these days and the issues are important to us all, so it was with interest that I picked up Libby Fischer Hellman’s new novel, A Bitter Veil, set in the midst of the Iranian revolution that brought Khomeini to power. In a viscerally effective tale she brings that key moment to life, and we see it in a nuanced way that we would do well to carry into our understanding of the current crisis. I certainly remembered the overthrow of the shah and the hostage crisis, but I can’t say I ever got inside that world until I read Hellman’s book. It is perhaps a cliché to say that some themes transcend time and stay central to the human experience throughout the ages. But it’s still a profound notion despite its common currency. A Bitter Veil develops two such universal themes (along with other lesser ones, of course). One of those themes Hellman succinctly identifies in her author notes:“I am drawn to stories about women whose choices have been taken away from them. How do they react? Do they simply surrender? Become victims? Or can some survive, even triumph over their travails?”Anna, Hellman’s main character, hangs in a delicate balance throughout the novel, and we don’t know how she’ll manage when extremist Islam traps her inside Iran under a veil. She’s no superhero, but she has to cope with extraordinary circumstances. When we meet her, she’s a college student in Chicago hunting down a copy of Rumi’s poetry. She meets Nouri, an Iranian engineering student, when he recites lines of Rumi to her at the bookstore. They are pretty typical college kids—sexual attraction, cultural exoticism, intelligent discussions, politics, all that heady brew draw them together. There are undercurrents of concern. They both seem in different ways too vulnerable for safety, too needy and dependent. The mama in me wanted to give them a lecture about strength of character and making decisions that are wise for you in the long run rather than decisions that feed into your weakest sides. Hellman has done a superb job of creating these two people. If I want to lecture an author’s characters, she’s clearly persuaded me they are real. But these are subtle problems that they suffer from, the sort most of us have in one way or another. If things had gone as planned, they’d have been fine. But instead they marry and go to Iran at the opening of its paroxysms. So what happens to a woman, and not an extraordinarily strong woman, when her freedoms are taken away, one by one, and her life is threatened multiple times and submission to extremism seems like the only way out? I’ll let you read and find out. It’s a good story.The other theme that Hellman gradually unfolds is best summed up by Hannah Arendt’s famous phrase “the banality of evil.” As Anna says at one point when describing Iran during the revolution, “It’s as if an entire country—an entire culture—slipped off its axis. Black became white. White became black. Kind people were unkind. Good people were bad.” Arendt’s notion that an ordinary person can be led to evil actions arose from her study of the Nazis, and Hellman has Nazis in this book. I won’t tell you how—it will spoil some of the plot—but she creates a subtle and effective parallel between the Iranian extremism and Germany under the Nazis. She shows willingness of “good” people in Iran to perform orgies of killing through the process of identifying the “other” and then vowing to eradicate that other in order to purify society. Hellman includes amongst the “good” villains those allied with the Islamic revolution and those just trying to survive. Isn’t that precisely why such villainy works? No need to be a true believer to become tangled in the darkness. There’s a hopeful message to this book and a deep cross-cultural sympathy. Both make it an uplifting read not a depressing one, despite the sadness. The good story and characters make it an engaging read. The subject matter and setting make it an illuminating one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Libby Fischer Hellman is best known for the mysteries featuring strong female leads she writes, but her latest is more like last year’s Set the Night on Fire in which Hellmann took a more literary approach to a specific period of American history (the radicalism of the 1960s). With A Bitter Veil, the author focuses on the series of events that would lead both to the rise to power in Iran of the infamous Ayatollah Khomeini and to the downfall of American president Jimmy Carter. What makes the novel such a compelling read is Hellmann’s skill at recounting this turning point in the relationship of the two countries through the eyes of a rather naïve young American woman who falls in love with an Iranian student she meets in Chicago. Similar stories have, sadly, happened all too often in the real world during the last three decades.Abby would like a family within which she can feel secure and protected, but she has the opposite. She is not particularly close to either of her parents; in fact, her mother has lived in her own native France for most of Abby’s life. Her physical and emotional response to Nouri, the young Iranian student she meets in a Chicago bookstore both surprises and pleases her. From almost the moment they meet, the two young people are inseparable and Anna dares to hope for a long future with Nouri. She is willing, almost eager, to follow him back to Iran to begin life there as a married woman. As fate would have it, the couple returns to Iran at precisely the moment the Shah’s power and his hold on the government are slipping away forever. So gradually that Anna fails to recognize the warning signs, Nouri changes from the religiously liberal man she married into a strict follower of Islam. Nouri, whose father is close to the Shah and has become wealthy through his political connections, makes the change largely to ensure his own economic survival. Anna can understand the necessity of wearing the veil in public but in reality she becomes her husband’s prisoner - never allowed to leave their home alone. Worse, she learns that because she married in Iran she cannot leave the country legally without her husband’s permission. Nouri swears he will never allow her to leave. The Bitter Veil is the story of a typical young American who finds herself tested in ways that the average, naïve American could not imagine in the late 1970s that they would ever be tested. The things that happen to her are simply not supposed to happen to an American – but when they do she must rise to the occasion if she hopes to survive long enough to escape Iran.I do have one warning about the novel’s ending: do not begin the final segment (you will recognize it when you get there) unless there is time to finish the rest of A Bitter Veil before bedtime. Consider yourself warned.Rated at: 4.0
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    3.5***

    For this historical thriller, Hellmann has chosen the time frame of 1977-1980, during the Iranian Revolution. Anna Schroder meets fellow grad student Nouri Samedi in a Chicago bookstore. They share a love of poetry, which is what begins their relationship. Despite their different cultures, they find in each other qualities which complete them, and fall in love. But when they return to Nouri’s native Iran, Anna is confronted with a greater cultural and religious divide than she had anticipated.

    Hellmann has obviously done her research and she presents both sides of the many issues that resulted in the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini (at least in my opinion). I found the lead characters rather naïve, but I reminded myself of their youth and idealism and how each had been somewhat sheltered by his/her family, and went with the flow. I was completely caught up in the story of Anna’s increasing isolation, the limited (or lack of) options, and her resolve.

    In the Author Note at the end of the novel, Hellmann explains how the idea for the book came to her – her fascination with a story of one woman’s struggle against seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But, she says, she felt stymied because the story had no crime, and she writes crime fiction. So, on the advice of a friend she invented a crime around which to build her plot. I have news for Hellmann – she does a fine job of writing fiction without the crime (which, in this case, I felt resolved a little too neatly). What I found most interesting about the book was Anna’s journey from a naïve college student to a strong and resourceful young woman.

    I’ve passed the book on to my husband, who loves reading about international issues and intrigue. I’m sure he’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A Bitter Veil by Libby Fischer Hellmann Narrated by, Diane Piron GelmanA Fascinating look at a time of turmoil in Iran with the fall of the Shah & the rise of the Ayatollah. This book felt very well researched and wasn’t a slam on an entire country or religion. We meet a young couple in love in America, Nouri and Anna they are young and in love Nouri is Iranian but this makes no difference to Anna in fact she is looking forward to the day they make their home in Iran. However Iran is in the beginning stages of upheaval and when the Shah falls everything in Nouri & Anna’s life changes too and definitely not for the better.I found this story fascinating in how fast people’s allegiances and loyalty and personalities changed with the revolution and how many different reasons for the changes. Anne married a sweet man in Nouri who was involved in human rights activism while he was studying in the US and even after they had gotten to Iran he seemed to still hold the same beliefs until after the fall of the Shah and Nouri is arrested he comes back a very different man and Anna’s whole life changes.I don’t want to give too much away about what happens between Nouri and Anna but let’s say he becomes a different man than she married. The unrest in Iran is fascinating the way the people flip-flopped on what It was they wanted from their country it makes me wonder how different the middle east and Iran in particular would be now if the ones that wanted to embrace the modern and give the rights to everyone had won this particular battle.The narration by Diane Piron Gelman was very well done her accents weren’t over done and as far as I could tell she did a good job at speaking Farsi and French when called for. I was impressed with her narration as a whole and would listen to her again.In the author’s afterword she talks about interviewing many Iranian Americans for this story and I felt like this rang true to what I know of this time period. One thing the author said in the afterword is she is a crime writer and needed a crime but I kind of felt like the crimes were on the people of Iran although the crime did add the ending and fit well in the story.If you are at all interesting in this time period or setting or just a fan of historical fiction I would highly recommend this book.4 StarsI received this book from the author & the Audiobookjukebox for a fair and honest review