Until We Are Free

Starred review from January 4, 2016
The story of Iran is the story of my life,” writes human rights activist and Nobel laureate Ebadi (Iran Awakening) at the start of her memoir, which paints a revealing portrait of the state of political oppression in Iran. It begins with the 1979 revolution, when the author, under Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime, lost her judgeship simply for being a woman. She uses spare, spirited prose to chronicle the start of her career as a pro bono defender of human rights, working with the most vulnerable—women, children, and dissidents—as the government subjected her to an increasing amount of harassment and scrutiny. She was exiled in 2009 on the eve of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s second term. The Iranian government has since redirected their intimidation schemes toward her family in Iran, coercing her husband and arresting her sister. Yet she continues to fight for Iranians’ human rights, finding refuge in London, where she currently lives. Ebadi’s tone is distinctly more sorrowful toward the end of the book, where she recounts her years away from Iran. She reflects on the Arab Spring and the many ways the Iranian state hides the costs of its policies from its citizens; despite this corruption, she feels homesick and dislocated in exile. She is an inspiring figure, and her suspenseful, evocative story is unforgettable.

December 15, 2015
A leading activist speaks out about inequality and injustices in Iran. Stripped of her judgeship and demoted to clerk by the Iranian government in 1980, Ebadi (The Golden Cage: Three Brothers, Three Choices, One Destiny, 2011, etc.) began taking on pro bono cases in the 1990s, defending the rights of children and women in Iran. For this work, she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 (the first Muslim woman to do so), but she also came under far more serious scrutiny by the extremist rulers in Iran. With honesty and zeal, the author details how the Iranian government has used all manner of tactics to stop her from defending her clients. She was thrown into jail, her phones were bugged, and she was shadowed and watched by government officials; despite their efforts, she continued to defend those who came to her in need. After years of horrifying harassment, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government stepped up its efforts and detained Ebadi's daughter. They also increased their persecution of Ebadi's co-workers and other lawyers who also sought to rectify the inequalities so readily evident under the extremist leaders. When none of these tactics forced the author to stop speaking out about the injustices in Iran, the leaders went one step fuarther and set her husband up in a sting operation, which almost caused her to back down. However, she knew if she caved to their demands, then they would have won, which was a situation that she could not tolerate. Ebadi's courage and strength of character are evident throughout this engrossing text, which illuminates the power the few have had over the many, particularly the women and children of Iran. The captivating and candid story of a woman who took on the Iranian government and survived, despite every attempt to make her fail.

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Starred review from February 1, 2016
Ebadi's credentials as a human rights activist are above reproach. A judge who lost her position following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, she subsequently practiced law for decades before being forced into exile. In 2003, she became the first Muslim woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which was later seized by the government. A tireless supporter of the Iranian people, especially its women and children, she has traveled the world speaking out against the human rights violations and abuses that permeate the country she loves so much. As she reveals here, for her dedication to justice she has paid a bitter price. Her marriage was destroyed through governmental machinations, her home and possessions taken, her family ripped apart, and she was left with exile as the only option to avoid prison. Her eloquent, straightforward assessment of how Iran's political processes were hijacked by religious extremists and the deep roots of that extremism, including the 1953 CIA-backed coup that toppled Iran's government, are eye-opening and necessary to understand the turbulent U.S.-Iran relationship. The story of Iran is the story of my life, Ebadi writes. To say this is a riveting tale would be a vast understatement.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

March 15, 2016

In 2003, Ebadi, a lawyer and cofounder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, became the first Muslim women to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Yet here the author doesn't write about her prize-worthy work defending women, children, and refugees against the Iranian government through its own legal system; she tells what came after. For Ebadi, her family, and her coworkers, harassment, tapped phones, and arrest without cause was a way of life. Following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election in 2005, the persecution reached new levels. The government vandalized her home, shut down her offices, and detained and arrested her relatives. They even plotted to destroy her marriage and attempted to use this to publicly humiliate her into silence. Ebadi has been in exile since 2009. Ebadi's trials after winning the Nobel Peace Prize exemplify how crucial her life's work protecting vulnerable citizens through Iranian law was to human rights. Even with her expertise and global voice, every day was a fight to protect herself and her family. VERDICT This memoir almost reads like a thriller. Ebadi is powerful and courageous; her story will appeal to many readers. [See Prepub Alert, 9/14/15.]--Heidi Uphoff, Sandia National Laboratories, NM

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015

As a human rights lawyer in Iran, Ebadi has suffered arrest, death threats, and attacks on loved ones; now she lives in exile in the West. In 2003, she became the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This work captures the arc of her entire activist-imbued life, with an epilog on the Iranian nuclear deal adding fresh, significant insight.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.