Unveiled: Amazon.ca: Cherry Mosteshar: Books

Product Description

From Amazon

An unflinching look at modern Iran from a woman's viewpoint-- under the veil. Mosteshar, born in Iran but educated in the West at Oxford, returns as an Islamic bride to the country of her birth, only to find herself at the mercy of a society in which she has lost her status and rights, where she is valued as but half a man. Chilling, informative, and fury-fueled, this book pulls back the curtain hiding the shocking picture of female oppression. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Although born in Iran, Mosteshar, a journalist who has worked as a correspondent for leading British periodicals, was educated at Oxford. On periodic visits to her homeland, she lived as a member of Iran's wealthy elite until the Shah was overthrown in 1979. This anecdotal and somewhat disjointed memoir describes the changes that took place after the religious revolution, both in her personal life and in the lives of Iranian women. Initially sympathetic to the goal of revolutionary forces to address the needs of the poor, Mosteshar became disillusioned when her father was called a CIA agent, her personal fortune was confiscated and women's civil rights were stripped away. For reasons the author does not make clear, she married a poor Iranian who stole her money, raped her and lied about his divorce from his first wife, whom Mosteshar supported financially. After much hardship, she escaped from this relationship and now lives in England, fearing retribution should she return to Iran. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
I can still remember the day I first became an Iranian. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

20 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

Average Customer Review

2.0 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Unveiled, April 18 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Unveiled (Mass Market Paperback)

The first half of this book is totally frustrating. There are too many characters and the family tree is virtually useless. The second half is exasperating. Here is a woman of so called nobility and educated who, in rebellion against her upbringing, marries an inferior, rude, sexist, demanding, and controlling gigolo. The reader can only tire of her rationalizing a destructive marriage, conceived and executed with her consent. The only kind thing I can say for Cherry is that perhaps her rebellion against her parents, who ruled and dominated her early dating life, responded in the only way she knew how. Choose someone totally and completely the opposite of anyone they would have chosen for her. Well done....but why punish yourself?

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

1.0 out of 5 stars Inaccurate, Jan 25 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Unveiled: Love and Death Among the Ayatollahs (Hardcover)

Having been born to a well educated professional Iranian family myself, and having lived in Iran during those post revolutionary years, I find it very hard to believe that an Oxford educated woman in her mid thirties, would claim to come from "nobility" and to have family members married off at 14 yrs of age tolerating wife beating husbands who would take additional wives and steal their fortune. I also cannot understand how a woman who has been brought up in the West and is supposedly a journalist, would jump into a marriage with a revolutionary without investigating the person's background, to later discover that he had another wife??? These are just a few questions that would cross any reader's mind.
During the 13 years which I lived in post-revolutionary Iran, I had only heard about these type occurences in the lower middle class or low SES families. I have seen Iranian women (those who I associated with) as very dignified, well educated and respectable (and respected by their husbands). If they were to fall into a trap as described by Ms. Mostashar, they would get out. Any person who has some understanding of the changes which have taken place after the falling of the Shah's regime would attest to how the Women's rights movement in Iran has progressed. I think Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner would say the same. I do not claim that the system is perfect, but it is definitely improving. I think that the likes of Ms. Mostashar and Ms. Betty Mahmoudi have had bad experiences, with some trashy people in Iran, and have used their experience as a means of generalizing and stereotyping the Iranians. Also, Ms. Mostashar has somewhat turned her "biography" into a trashy novel, which may be a marketing technique-this is quite distasteful. It appears that this biography has been used to seek revenge rather than to inform.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

1.0 out of 5 stars Tedious & awful, Mar 4 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Unveiled (Mass Market Paperback)

Somehow I did make it through this book, but it was only out of sheer force of will. It was poorly written and dull. I thoroughly enjoy books on Iran in particular and the Middle East in general, but this book was more of an exhausting sob story than it was an interesting autobiographical journey. There's only so many pages that a person can endure a laundry list of complaints. If you're looking for a journey into today's Iran, read "Searching for Hassan" or "Honeymoon in Purdah."

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 20 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 27 reviews 2.4 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Something to read when you can't find anything else.
First on the writing style. This book is extremely hard to read and difficult to follow because she skips around too much and gets off subject. Read more

Published on Nov 27 2000 by Reema Almas Martin

1.0 out of 5 stars Dont waste your time with this so called book.
I will be very brief.This book is outdated,exaggerated,and most of it is nonsense.The writer although might have written some of this book truthfuly,has put in the book many half... Read more

Published on Oct 23 2000 by hsaadati