The Lion Women of Tehran

Author: Marjan Kamali

Who Picked the Book: Amberly

One-sentence summary: Two childhood friends navigate the changing political landscape of life in Iran both together and apart.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 9

Our favorite thing about it: We loved the incredible story.

Our least favorite thing about it: LOTS of bad things happen to both characters.

Main Topics of Discussion: History, Friendship, Politics, Religion

Our favorite quote: "Someday, you and me — we'll do great things. We'll live life for ourselves. And we will help others. We are cubs now, maybe. But we will grow to be lionesses. Strong women who will make things happen."

Notes: We universally loved this book and this story. We liked the 2 main characters and felt engaged in the story the whole time. We loved the historical aspects and the things we learned about Iranian history and culture. We discussed childhood friendships and how they change through the years. We talked about loyalty. We also discussed religion and politics - as they're central to the story. It was hard to read the story, knowing what would happen in Iran after the overthrow of the Shah. We did think an extraordinary amount of terrible things happened to our two main characters - lots of historical tragedies were personally tied to their stories. But, we excused it because the story and writing were so good. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: Amberly took us to Little Persia for some authentic Persian food. And we spent the rest of the night at Dessert Avenue in Murphy eating and discussing the book. We wore our new book club sweatshirts for the first time together. We also celebrated Rachel's and Amberly's birthdays.

What We Ate: We had Sekanjabin drink (sweet and sour Ancient Persian Syrup and water), felafel with a spicy sauce, Beef and Chicken Kebabs with Rice. Then, at Dessert Avenue, we had various crepes, tea, and coffee.