Audiobook11 hours
Rosewater: Previously published as 'Then They Came For Me'
Written by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy
Narrated by Stephen Hoye
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
About this audiobook
When Maziar Bahari left London in June 2009 to cover Iran's presidential election, he assured his pregnant fiancee, Paola, that he'd be back in just a few days, a week at most. Little did he know, as he kissed her good-bye, that he would spend the next three months in Iran's most notorious prison, enduring brutal interrogation sessions at the hands of a man he knew only by his smell: Rosewater.
For the Bahari family, wars, coups, and revolutions are not distant concepts but intimate realities they have suffered for generations: Maziar's father was imprisoned by the shah in the 1950s, and his sister by Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1980s. Alone in his cell at Evin Prison, fearing the worst, Maziar draws strength from his memories of the courage of his father and sister in the face of torture, and hears their voices speaking to him across the years. He dreams of being with Paola in London, and imagines all that she and his rambunctious, resilient eighty-four-year-old mother must be doing to campaign for his release. During the worst of his encounters with Rosewater, he silently repeats the names of his loved ones, calling on their strength and love to protect him and praying he will be released in time for the birth of his first child.
A riveting, heart-wrenching memoir, Then They Came for Me offers insight into the past fifty years of regime change in Iran, as well as the future of a country where the democratic impulses of the youth continually clash with a government that becomes more totalitarian with each passing day. An intimate and fascinating account of contemporary Iran, it is also the moving and wonderfully written story of one family's extraordinary courage in the face of repression.
For the Bahari family, wars, coups, and revolutions are not distant concepts but intimate realities they have suffered for generations: Maziar's father was imprisoned by the shah in the 1950s, and his sister by Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1980s. Alone in his cell at Evin Prison, fearing the worst, Maziar draws strength from his memories of the courage of his father and sister in the face of torture, and hears their voices speaking to him across the years. He dreams of being with Paola in London, and imagines all that she and his rambunctious, resilient eighty-four-year-old mother must be doing to campaign for his release. During the worst of his encounters with Rosewater, he silently repeats the names of his loved ones, calling on their strength and love to protect him and praying he will be released in time for the birth of his first child.
A riveting, heart-wrenching memoir, Then They Came for Me offers insight into the past fifty years of regime change in Iran, as well as the future of a country where the democratic impulses of the youth continually clash with a government that becomes more totalitarian with each passing day. An intimate and fascinating account of contemporary Iran, it is also the moving and wonderfully written story of one family's extraordinary courage in the face of repression.
Author
Maziar Bahari
London-based, Iranian-Canadian journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari was reporting for Newsweek magazine when he was arrested without charge during the 2009 Iranian Election Protests. He was held for 118 days until the Iranian state was forced by international pressure to release him. In absentia Bahari has been sentenced to 13 and a half years in prison, and 74 lashes.
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Reviews for Rosewater
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5“Mr. Bahari, let me advise you on this matter,” he said before exiting the room. “In our judicial system, it is the interrogator who makes the final decision. It is better if you cooperate with us, rather than rely on anyone outside of this room. You are here, and here, I am the only one who will make decisions about your life.” – RosewaterThis morning's headline about the beheading of a British aid worker by the terrorist group ISIS filled me with dread, but especially honed in on this feeling of helplessness. I experienced those same feelings while reading Then They Came for Me. Bahari, an Iranian-Canadian journalist, is incarcerated in the infamous Evin prison in Tehran while reporting on the 2009 presidential election. Subjected to physical and psychological abuse by Rosewater, a pseudonym Bahari uses for his interrgator and torturer, he never gives up hope that his family will continue to advocate for his release. In the meantime, he attempts to keep his wits about him by reflecting on the history of his country, its rocky politics, and even his own family's history of activism and captivity."I felt it was my job to provide accurate, well-reported information and, in doing so, help the world to have a better understanding of Iran and in my own way build a gradual path toward a more democratic future."I think that's what I loved most about this book. Bahari is so candid and knowledgeable about Iran, its people, and its even more complicated political mechanism. I feel like a better informed reader, even when parts of this book and the atrocities Bahri witnessed were hard to read. I highly recommend this book, especially for fans of Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption and The Complete Persepolis.