Guest Book Review by Gina Macdonald - Prisoner of Tehran

This year on Canada Reads, Arlene Dickinson championed a book called Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat. After hearing the debates and listening to Arlene speak about the book, I knew I had to read it. It was absolutely riveting. I read it in a day and a half, and the only reason I put it down was to sleep, eat, and maybe say hello to my parents. Nemat’s all-too-true story about her imprisonment in Evin was completely engrossing and sometimes read more like a horrifying novel than a memoir.

            The memoir begins with Nemat’s description of Pearson airport in Toronto, how it seemed like such a normal, welcoming place, and how she was lucky to be in a place like Canada. We are then taken back to Iran, where she describes her family life, her first encounter with her future husband, and finally her arrest after speaking out against the government at her school, at age 16. For the rest of the memoir, we learn about her trials in prison, her forced first marriage to a man she does not quite learn to love, and her relationships with the other women she meets in Evin.

            It would be impossible for me to correctly sum up the amount of terrible things described in the book as well as Nemat wrote them. As I mentioned, at some points it felt like I was reading a novel, a fictional account, rather than a true relation of these events, because it was at times too terrible for me to believe it actually happened.

            As well, this book was the first time Marina Nemat told her story; even her husband had no idea the things she went through in Evin until he read the manuscript. Prisoner of Tehran is a brave book to have been published, both because Nemat survived her ordeal and then decided to share her experiences with the world. Nemat’s strength really comes through in her writing, and it’s definitely something I would recommend anyone and everyone to read.

Book Review - Something Fierce

This nonfiction was the winner of Canada Reads 2012! After a week of heavy debate among the Canada Reads panelists, Something Fierce came out on top and I felt that this had to be the next book I shared with all of you!
Carmen Aguirre is the daughter to a revolutionary family. Her family is constantly moving from place to place and she never has any friends for very long. It is a lonely life for a child. Her mother and Bob are in the Chilean resistance. For weeks at a time, Carmen and her younger sister Ale are left with other families. When they grow older, they are left to fend for themselves while their parents are away. How does a child live when every day they fear they will never see their parents again? That the secret police could come barging in at any moment and take you away? Rather than face neglect and loneliness at home, both Carmen and Ale seek solace in boys and spend as much time away from home as possible. As she grows older Carmen joins the underground herself. But after years and years of continuous revolution, will there ever be an end in sight? With an ever widening gap within her family, Carmen continues to fight. For her rights. For her freedom. For Chile.
Carmen Aguirre tells the story of her life down to every detail and every fear that she had to overcome. I found her story very intriguing. Not only does it give great insight into the world of a revolutionary, but it shows you the lesser known side of a revolutionary that loses the fight and what happens afterwards. It makes you realize how different our countries really are. Compare your childhood to hers and they will be nothing alike. I think it's always good to gain a new perspective, and why people see the world the way they do. Carmen Aguirre was a revolutionary, and now she passes her story on to you. She has survived Something Fierce.