Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey

As a person who reads a lot of books about the Middle East, specifically about Middle Eastern women, I was delighted to find that this book wasn't written with a strong political agenda. I was beginning to get tired all the constant railing about the hijab in most books, and even though Alison Wearing does complain about it, she also describes the feeling of comfort and safety it affords her, probably mirroring an ambivalence many Iranian women have. I don't agree with the first reviewers criticism that the book implies that the only way into Iran is by bus, and that it makes Iranians look poor because they have no furniture. The author was obviously an adventurous sort who preferred taking the bus, and would people so graspingly poor that they couldn't afford furniture be able to lavish gifts and food on strangers in the way she describes? She's describing the home habits of a specific group of people in one part of a very big country. I loved that the book emphasized the intensely hospitable and friendly nature of the Iranian people she met- an element I've found sadly lacking in books that focus on what is wrong with modern Iran. The book has its flaws (when Wearing gets poetic, she sounds a little silly; fortunately this is rare), but her honesty (she knows when she's being culturally insensitive, and doesn't gloss over it), ability to laugh at herself, and gift for recreating plausible dialogue more than make up for it. Not a history book, but a fun, very funny, and touching read. Good gift book.

As an Iranian growing up in Canada, I seldom found accurate representations of the people of Iran. It seems that those who make the most noise are the only ones heard, so it was often painful to see the only portrayals of Iranians to be of ignorant, Western-hating, backward militants. The book and movie "Not Without My Daughter" presented Betty Mahmoody's tragic experience with a close-minded family, and the movie showed scenes of villages that were meant to represent major cities in Iran. It is no wonder that I've always had to work hard to prove myself against these stereotypes. It's a shame that many westerners believe Ms. Mahmoody's story to be representative of every Persian family. This book is such a refreshing change. I could relate to every thougth and action that she wrote of, and I found myself laughing out loud at parts, and crying at others because of their familiarity. I hope that westerners read this book without the cynicism of some of those who have reviewed it here, and believe that a people can be that hospitable, that kind, and that misunderstood. I pity those who have such a jaded view on humanity and on Iran, that they attribute Wearing's accounts as fictitious attempts at humour, instead of what they actually are: A true portrayal of most Iranians' warmth toward their guest.

I loved this book. It was a delight and a privilege to experience Iran through Allison Wearing's eyes and ears, through her warm heart and beautiful mind. She limits herself to writing only what amuses, entertains, edifies, enlightens her readers, and never never bores--sharing her frustrations, hilarity, surprises, confusion, fear, joy, fatigue, admiration.... Iran's people treat her well and win her affection and respect, and she in turn treats them with the utmost respect and openness; yet she clearly conveys the difficulties and drawbacks of daily life there. She wears Hejab for five months (the black coverings of Muslim women) and sympathetically investigates and illuminates the lives of Iranian women. Wearing's writing style is simply the best--present, funny, thoughtful, gentle, informed, with stories and characters that are irresistable. I appreciate her political and cultural sensitivity, and am very grateful that she took me along on her journey..... I plan to recommend this book to my book club!

Being an Iranian, I have never thought that describing the Iranian people would be an easy job. Alison Wearing has done an absolutely amazing, an accurate job in introducing this almost forgotten nation to the world. The book is extremely entertaining and funny. Makes all of us want to go on the same journey as she did.

Iran is such a closed society that any glimpse inside it is especially fascintating. Alison Wearing has done a great service by allowing us to meet the real people of Iran, whose kindess, hospitality, craziness, and so forth show them to be as human as one would suspect. Especially interesting are individual Iranians' feelings, pro and con, about the Islamic revolution, and the author's experience of their culture and observations about it: After months of wearing the restrictive and horribly uncomfortable clothing required of Iranian women, she finds she is not immediately ready to remove it after leaving. The book is also enourmously entertaining. Includes one of the funniest ping-pong matches ever.