Rebellion, Thy Name Is Woman: Book Review of the Lion Women of Tehran

 

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

Description

In The Lion Women of Tehran by Marian Kamali, Ellie and her mother have to leave the affluent part of the city after her father dies. Her mother is miserable over the change, but Ellie finds a very special friend in Homa. Homa is bright, tough, charismatic, funny, and even as a young girl, she is quite driven. She is the one who tells Ellie that they will be lion women.

Kamali has written The Lion Women of Tehran with several sections, moving from story present where Ellie is living in the United States back to Ellie’s childhood in Tehran. Most of the book is from Ellie’s point of view, but there are also a few parts from Homa’s perspective.

As time moves forward, Ellie’s and Homa’s circumstances both change, and the political climate goes through upheavals. Being a woman in Iran becomes increasingly dangerous.

Because of the subject matter and some overlap in time period, The Lion Women of Tehran reminded me of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. There is a lot of historical information included in both books, and having read Persepolis gave me some historical context and helped me to understand The Lion Women of Tehran. The two books also cover some of the same themes, though they are tonally quite different. Plus one is a novel and the other is a graphic novel. So.

Would I teach this book? 

The Lion Women of Tehran is, surprise, a book club book. I read and can enjoy just about any kind of fiction, but I am drawn to certain types of books more than others. This book was okay, but not my idea of compulsively readable. Several other book club members loved it—they said it was their favorite of the year. For the crowd that generally loves historical fiction, it’s a go. For my taste, it was a bit melodramatic at a few points. Since there is plenty of drama from the plot, the writing could have taken a step back. That being said, the book club discussion was quite lively—there is plenty to discuss in the book.

In a literature course, The Lion Women of Tehran could make a good comparison with Persepolis. For a multicultural literature course or world literature, the pair would be a good way to discuss the portrayal of political change and the impact of politics on the characters and plot. It would be interesting, too, to hear students discuss which they preferred reading and why.

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