Five decades of Iranian history in a sweeping forbidden novel. A teenager in pre-revolutionary Tehran, Massoumeh is an ordinary girl, passionate about studying. On her way to school, she meets a man she falls in love with—but when her family discovers the letters he writes to her, Massoumeh is branded a disgrace to the family. As a result, the young woman is severely beaten by her authoritarian brother, and her parents force her to hastily marry a man she has never met. The years following Massoumeh's marriage prove transformative for Iran. Hamid, her husband, is a Marxist dissident, persecuted first by the Shah's oppressive regime and then by the fundamentalists he himself helped to power. Massoumeh's fate, until then dictated by loyalty to family and Islamic tradition, becomes tied to the radical changes in the country. The Book of Destiny spans five turbulent decades of Iranian history, marked by repression, abuse, misery, and deprivation. It's a powerful story about friendship and passion, fear and hope—and a rare insight into Iranian society. • Banned twice by the Iranian government, it became one of the biggest bestsellers in the country's history, with more than 20 editions.
