First, I have to write a disclaimer about this review: I read the novel about three years ago and am doing this review from memory. Having said that, I can honestly say that I enjoyed reading this novel.

It is written by Azar Nafisi and is based on her experiences in Iran, around 1995 or so. The veil becomes a mandatory part of life during Azar's years in Iran, and this novel explores the differences of Iran before and after the Veil. She is a professor of English but eventually leaves her position in 1995. She leaves because of the increasingly negative environment that permeates the campus, especially with all of the new restrictions placed on women.

I found this part of the novel incredibly interesting; I didn't know much about Iran before the veil became mandatory: to experience the difference in Azar's life as the political and social climate changes is fascinating. Her life and liberties become narrower and narrower with each new edict passed in Iran.

When she leaves her academic post, she decides to host a book club in her own home. This sounds harmless enough, but in the hostile environment of Iran, it could have become a death sentence. The book club has to remain a secret: 8 women meeting each week to discuss fiction written in English could be construed as a political move. Therefore, these meetings have an air of danger around them. Especially, when the women dare to remove their veils in Azar's home.

They read Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Miller, Pride and Prejudice: then they come together to discuss the novels. The discussions were not only enlightening in a literary sense, but they also developed an overall picture about life in Iran. How one discusses a novel depends on their social position and the enviornment that they live in. I think sometimes we forget that fact, and we think that there is only one real interpretation of a novel: but, if your civil liberties are being reduced and removed, you might think differently about the questions a novel might raise. This novel illustrates that you bring your own history and beliefs with you when you approach literature.

I remember thinking that some parts of this novel dragged; it wasn't written by a literary author as much as it is a memoir, and sometimes that fact is apparent. But I learned so much, and it made me go back and re-read Lolita and The Great Gatsby again.

So go read the novel, and then come on back here and weigh in on this novel, and help fill in any gaps I might have missed (since I read the novel so long ago). Thanks and Happy Reading!