The Lion Women of Tehran The life-affirming BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick

This book is about a deep friendship between two women in Iran, starting in the early 1950ies when they meet as children until the 1980ies and beyond when they are adults. Their characters are quite different but it is easy to follow their thoughts and feelings despite coming from very different backgrounds, one from a poor but loving and democratic family, the other having a wealthy but difficult mother. Their friendship and the political misery in their home country are the backbone of the story, both spiralling up to extremes when Ellie lives in New York with her husband where the American lifestyle clashes with the harsh reality in Iran and from where Ellie continues to support her friend Homa. At the end of the story, Homa is still fighting for women's rights in the streets, still hoping to change the system after suffering under it for decades. Living in our Western world, it is easy to forget what is going on in other countries but this book manages to bring us close to Tehran and to the strong women of Iran. Keep on fighting!