My Prison, My Home: One Woman’s Story of Captivity in Iran by Haleh Esfandiari (Book Review)

This is a story of the strength of a woman against a misogynistic and paranoid government.

My Prison, My Home tells the story of Iranian- American academic Haleh Esfandiari. The 67 year old grandmother, while on a trip to Iran to visit her mother, is “robbed” but all that is taken are her Iranian and American passports as well as her plane tickets. The robbers leave behind her expensive jewellery and cellphone.

Soon it is discovered that what seemed to be a robbery was in actual fact a plot by the Iranian government to prevent Haleh from leaving the country and what follows is an elaborate plan to paint her as part of a group of Americans trying to take over Iran.

She is eventually taken to Evin prison where she must deal with paranoid mindset of the repressive Iranian government.

This book tells her story beautifully. You feel her frustration, disgust and fear through her words. In the middle of the book are family pictures and even a picture with then Senator Barak Obama who appealed to the Iranian government to set her free.

The strength of this woman is astounding, especially at her age. And even though she was mistreated in her own country, she still has much love for it even though she has little for its current government.

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