By Larry Getlen. To live in Tehran, writes British-Iranian journalist Ramita Navai in this collection of true stories, requires one essential skill: lying. Each focuses on an individual, but Navai uses these personal stories to observe how people live, love and survive in a society ruled by fundamentalists.
When the conservative Somayeh met her year-old cousin Amir-Ali, a well-built young man with a surgically perfected nose according to Navai, plastic surgery is remarkably common in Tehran , the attraction was instant and mutual.
He said that he was, and a wedding was planned. Some even offered magic spells at premium rates. In arranging the marriage, Somayeh made Amir-Ali promise to allow her to attend university. Soon after they married, Amir-Ali changed his mind. He suddenly had hot new Facebook friends, spent time at a gambling den and stopped coming home. Along the way, Somayeh noticed that Amir-Ali, when he did return, had a combination-lock briefcase that seemed important to him.
Getty Images She told her mother everything, and Fatemeh listened intently, as she had also had a recent experience with heartbreak. All the women there are for sale. Fatemeh eventually forgave Haj Agha β the truth could have destroyed both of their reputations.
Her daughter, however, was still young, and had a chance at a better future. While divorce had long been considered shameful, and even just recently would have been considered unthinkable by Fatemeh, several couples they knew had recently divorced. Fearing the ramifications of his own proclivities going public, Amir-Ali granted the divorce, and Somayeh received the sort of second chance many Iranian women never get.
