Original language:
English Translated from: English
Authors: Nemat, Marina
Translated by: Groblytė, Jovita
ISBN: (Lietuvių) 978-9955-23-516-3
Published in: Vilnius
Published on: 2011
Publisher: Baltos lankos
Autobiographical book tells the story of the writers Marina Nemat experience in famous Evin prison in Tehran. The major part of people\’s names in the book have been changed and the experiences of prisoners attributed to others. The author tried to restore all the dialogs as thoroughly as possible.
The story begins on January 15, 1982, when the author was just sixteen years old. Because of a resistance against the Islamic government, which was not proved, she was arrested and brought into the prison, where brutally tortured and luckily after avoiding the shooting was sentenced to life imprisonment. There is a few chapters about author’s childhood and about her life before imprisonment, you can also find pictures of the writer’s life. The book reveals all the terrible things that happened in Evin prison and outside the prison, it also shows how many young people who were against the Shah governance were tortured and later killed. While reading the story you can feel the artist’s strength and strong character, because she had to experience more than one close friend’s death, marriage with unloved husband, his death and miscarriage. The book describes the relationships with family members, close friends and others. The grandmother is mentioned as a person who made the most impact on writer and sealed her with love, which was missing from the constantly busy and strict parents. Great attention is paid to the faith, the author was a Christian unlike the majority of Iranians and later was forced to convert to Islam. This fact was very painful, it felt almost like a betrayal, but deep in the heart she was trying to not abandon her true God. A marriage with unloved man made life difficult. Although the man was loving and tried to provide her the best conditions which she would not have had living with her parents, but the hate she felt towards her husband and guilt that she does not deserve to stay alive, would not let her enjoy life. At the end of the book the writer tells about her further life and all the difficulties she had to suffer after leaving the prison also it tells about the desire to manage life in her own way, despite the fact that the government watches every move. This book is an excellent example of how to be strong and stay a true human being even when you have to live in the most brutal and violent conditions.
Marina Nemat ( born 1965) – Political prisoner past two decades living in Canada. She was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in Evin prison (Teheran) while being only sixteen years old. After two years she left the prison but all the difficulties and perception that nothing has changed in Evin would not leave her alone and the writer decides to speak up about her cruel experience. Marina Nemat is the author of two memoirs, in 2007 was awarded the first Human Dignity Prize by the European Parliament and the Cultural Association Europa.