Overview

Suffering the recent loss of her beloved grandfather and newly committed to a career in journalism, Delphine Minoui decided to visit Iran for the first time since the revolution-since she was four years old. It was 1998. She would stay for ten years. In the course of that decade, great change comes to both writer and country, often at the same time. Minoui settles into daily life-getting to know her devout grandmother for the first time, making friends with local women who help her escape secret dance parties when the morality police arrive, figuring out how to be a journalist in a country that is suspicious of the press and Westerners. Once she finally starts to learn Persian, she begins to see Iran through her grandfather's eyes. And so it is all the more crushing when the political situation falters. She is caught up in protests and interrogated by secret police; some friends disappear and others may be tracking her movements. She finds love, loses her press credentials, marries, and is separated from her husband by erupting global conflict. Through it all, her love for this place and its people deepens and she discovers in her family's past a mission that will shape her entire future. Framed as a letter to her grandfather and filled with disarming characters in momentous times, I'm Writing You from Tehran is an unforgettable, moving view into an often obscured part of our world.

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Reviews

"""Delphine Minoui's poignant new book is a love letter, by turns devastating and joyful, to a country and a people whose history is deeply intertwined with that of the West. Lucidly observed and passionately explored, the Iran of her telling will be a revelation as much to the expert as to the uninitiated."" --Gina B. Nahai, author of The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. and Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith ""[Delphine Minoui] weaves the implications of international affairs and strife with family identity and pride in a way that only a talented journalist could."" --Sophie Matthews, Women.com ""Compelling . . . Minoui's account of her search for her own heritage is gripping."" --Laurna Strikwerda, The Christian Century ""Riveting . . . Full of suspense and surprises . . . Readers will be spellbound by this profound and gripping memoir of a woman's search for knowledge, understanding, and identity."" --Publishers Weekly ""This poignant memoir by a French Iranian journalist in the form of a letter to her deceased grandfather recounts a deeply felt 10-year journey to immerse herself in what it means to be Iranian . . . A uniquely rendered chronicle of one woman's personal and professional journey from faith to activism."" --Kirkus ""Exceptional . . . Sensitivity, doubt, and heart each have their part here, in such a way that we ourselves enter into the reality of today's Iran, a reality much richer--and more promising--than we imagine."" --Jean-Claude Guillebaud, Téléobs ""With an inextinguishable curiosity and an independent spirit that neither love for the people nor fear of the regime can dampen she paints . . . an extraordinary gallery of portraits . . . A passionate plunge into a society that is diverse, surprising, dynamic, oppressed . . . The author listens with the subtlety of a writer and the precision of a reporter."" --Philippe Gélie, Le Figaro Littéraire ""A contemporary and intimate vision of Iran."" --Livres Hebdo ""[Delphine Minoui] relates, with the scrupulousness of a notary clerk, the banal, the frightening, and even the marvelous . . . [She] measures everything. And these precise measurements taken over the course of all these years deliver an Iran full of the essence both of humanity and of the divine."" --Jean-Louis le Touzet, Libération ""A very beautiful book . . . [I'm Writing You from Tehran] crosses personal history with contemporary Iranian history."" --Xavier Frère, Républicain Lorrain"

Delphine Minoui's poignant new book is a love letter, by turns devastating and joyful, to a country and a people whose history is deeply intertwined with that of the West. Lucidly observed and passionately explored, the Iran of her telling will be a revelation as much to the expert as to the uninitiated. --Gina B. Nahai, author of The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. and Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith Exceptional . . . Sensitivity, doubt, and heart each have their part here, in such a way that we ourselves enter into the reality of today's Iran, a reality much richer--and more promising--than we imagine. --Jean-Claude Guillebaud, T l obs With an inextinguishable curiosity and an independent spirit that neither love for the people nor fear of the regime can dampen she paints . . . an extraordinary gallery of portraits . . . A passionate plunge into a society that is diverse, surprising, dynamic, oppressed . . . The author listens with the subtlety of a writer and the precision of a reporter. --Philippe G lie, Le Figaro Litt raire A contemporary and intimate vision of Iran. --Livres Hebdo [Delphine Minoui] relates, with the scrupulousness of a notary clerk, the banal, the frightening, and even the marvelous . . . [She] measures everything. And these precise measurements taken over the course of all these years deliver an Iran full of the essence both of humanity and of the divine. --Jean-Louis le Touzet, Lib ration A very beautiful book . . . [I'm Writing You from Tehran] crosses personal history with contemporary Iranian history. --Xavier Fr re, R publicain Lorrain

Delphine Minoui's poignant new book is a love letter, by turns devastating and joyful, to a country and a people whose history is deeply intertwined with that of the West. Lucidly observed and passionately explored, the Iran of her telling will be a revelation as much to the expert as to the uninitiated. --Gina B. Nahai, author of The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. and Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith Riveting . . . Full of suspense and surprises . . . Readers will be spellbound by this profound and gripping memoir of a woman's search for knowledge, understanding, and identity. --Publishers Weekly This poignant memoir by a French Iranian journalist in the form of a letter to her deceased grandfather recounts a deeply felt 10-year journey to immerse herself in what it means to be Iranian . . . A uniquely rendered chronicle of one woman's personal and professional journey from faith to activism. --Kirkus Exceptional . . . Sensitivity, doubt, and heart each have their part here, in such a way that we ourselves enter into the reality of today's Iran, a reality much richer--and more promising--than we imagine. --Jean-Claude Guillebaud, T l obs With an inextinguishable curiosity and an independent spirit that neither love for the people nor fear of the regime can dampen she paints . . . an extraordinary gallery of portraits . . . A passionate plunge into a society that is diverse, surprising, dynamic, oppressed . . . The author listens with the subtlety of a writer and the precision of a reporter. --Philippe G lie, Le Figaro Litt raire A contemporary and intimate vision of Iran. --Livres Hebdo [Delphine Minoui] relates, with the scrupulousness of a notary clerk, the banal, the frightening, and even the marvelous . . . [She] measures everything. And these precise measurements taken over the course of all these years deliver an Iran full of the essence both of humanity and of the divine. --Jean-Louis le Touzet, Lib ration A very beautiful book . . . [I'm Writing You from Tehran] crosses personal history with contemporary Iranian history. --Xavier Fr re, R publicain Lorrain

Delphine Minoui's poignant new book is a love letter, by turns devastating and joyful, to a country and a people whose history is deeply intertwined with that of the West. Lucidly observed and passionately explored, the Iran of her telling will be a revelation as much to the expert as to the uninitiated. --Gina B. Nahai, author of The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. and Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith Exceptional . . . Sensitivity, doubt, and heart each have their part here, in such a way that we ourselves enter into the reality of today's Iran, a reality much richer--and more promising--than we imagine. --Jean-Claude Guillebaud, Hebdomadaire Paris With an inextinguishable curiosity and an independent spirit that neither love for the people nor fear of the regime can dampen she paints . . . an extraordinary gallery of portraits . . . A passionate plunge into a society that is diverse, surprising, dynamic, oppressed . . . The author listens with the subtlety of a writer and the precision of a reporter. --Philippe G lie, Le Figaro Litt raire A contemporary and intimate vision of Iran. --Livres Hebdo [Delphine Minoui] relates, with the scrupulousness of a notary clerk, the banal, the frightening, and even the marvelous . . . [She] measures everything. And these precise measurements taken over the course of all these years deliver an Iran full of the essence both of humanity and of the divine. --Jean-Louis le Touzet, Lib ration A very beautiful book . . . [I'm Writing You from Tehran] crosses personal history with contemporary Iranian history. --Xavier Fr re, R publicain Lorrain

Author Information

Delphine Minoui, a recipient of the Albert Londres Prize for her reporting on Iraq and Iran, is a journalist and Middle East correspondent for Le Figaro. Born in Paris in 1974 to a French mother and an Iranian father, she now lives in Istanbul. Emma Ramadan lives in Providence, Rhode Island, where she is the co-owner of Riffraff bookstore and bar. She is the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, an NEA fellowship, and a PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant. Previous translations include the genderless novel Sphinx by Anne Garréta.

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