The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life

I read The Good Daughter on my honeymoon. My husband's parents immigrated to the US from Iran many years before he was born, so I have been reading books about Iran to gain more insight into their culture. The only other memoir about Iranian life that equals this one is Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. (I highly recommend reading both.) The most remarkable aspect of Dzarnik's book is the scope and detail with which she tells the story of her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother, as well as other relatives who played important roles in their lives. Her prose is beautiful, and descriptions of food, places and rituals are so evocative that it's easy to imagine being there with the women whose lives shaped hers. It's a dense book, but I didn't want to skip a word. While there are many memories that are hard to read, there are also stories of courage, redemption and perseverance that keep the story from becoming depressing - I was particularly charmed by the story of Kobra's mid-life career change and her reinvention of herself. Jasmin Dzarnik is very talented, and we are fortunate that she decided to share her family's story. If you want a better understanding of the people of Iran, definitely read this book.

An engrossing account of life for women in Iran as seen from the lives of the great grandmother, grandmother and mother of the author. Lili, the author's mother, is married at thirteen to a sadistic man who beats her. After she gives birth to a daughter, she flees his home but has to leave her daughter behind. The author is Lili's second child, and has always seen her half sister, Sara, as the 'good daughter', but Sara is a damaged girl, who even as an adult, finds it hard to forgive her mother for her abandonment. This is a heart wrenching and mind opening look at a different culture's treatment of its women. Katherine McCaughan, author of 'Natasha Lands Down Under.'

this moving story will be of particular interest to those open to learning about relationships from cultural perspectives. it is a tragic love story actually from Daughter to mother

Absolutely amazing memoir. Beautifully written, hard to put down. Full of Iran’s history, but in an interesting way. I highly recommend.

The author gives a very interesting glimpse of the life of women in Iran before and after the Islamic Revolution. As a woman, the women's casual attitude toward domestic violence against other women is hard to read and is a recurring and widespread theme. They nurture and support each other, but excuse the men and blame the woman. But as the reader is introduced to several generations, you understand how cultural norms are passed down, with little education or will to change things. The time frame overlaps 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' and it's extremely interesting to see how women's lives were beginning to improve in 'The Good Daughter' up to the time of 'Lolita' and then how both books follow the downward spiral to where Iran is today. The author seemed to drop several interesting threads in the narrative, picking them up later with only confusion to connect them. And many details of the story don't seem to add up, especially as it concerns their finances. But overall, its a compelling story, a quick read, and pulls you in enough that the abrupt ending begs for a Part Two.

I cannot love this book more. The eye-opening look into Persian culture and life before and after the Revolution is both fascinating and sad. But what holds the story together is Lili. A true testament to the power of a mother's love and the choices she makes for her family, past, present and future are the silk threads that weave through 300 + pages to create a poignant tapestry of resilience, loss, and longing for places and people that can and cannot be. I inhaled every word like a sweet tea.

This book - neither a memoir not a biography, but rather an interpretation of the lives of a series of Iranian women - should be separated into three parts. The first part begins slowly, and almost dares the reader to give up because of lack of pace. The second part is a fascinating, in-depth account of what it's like to live in the pre-modern Iranian culture as a woman. The final part of the book, which covers the author's own upbringing and early life, glosses over far too many details which would have brought insight and emotion to this section as it did in the second section. These omissions create much less sympathy for the characters, deflate the characters from three- to two-dimensions, and ultimately made me wistful for the author's previous writing style. Perhaps the author, so willing to dig deep in her mother's, grandmother's and great-grandmother's lives, was not ready to look more closely at her own life.

This story is well written, heartfelt, and illuminating. So much about Persian culture can be learned from this story (whether it be the antiquated ways of generations past or that of Persian-Americans struggling with cultural identity issues.) The author was so honest about her sentiments towards anything Persian in 1980s America and also her sometimes strained personal relationships. This book transcends borders because so much of the injustices and bad luck that this family endures are universal. The author has such a unique perspective to tell the stories of her family in such a way that I couldn't put this book down. I am very glad to have read this story!

Very interesting read. Also true with immigrant families. Difficulties they go true and how hard the woman work to keep the family together.

Delivery was super fast. Good job!!

Amazing memoir. Beautifully written. Heartbreaking what women have to endure. So wrong and unjust, and it still goes on to this very day. Thank you for this incredible book.

enjoyable read showing the clashes in culture between old world and new life in USA. easy to read and interesting to see both sides of the story, the daughter and the mother and how their ideas differ.

Very interesting book