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  • From Miniskirt to Hijab

  • A Girl in Revolutionary Iran
  • Written by: Jacqueline Saper
  • Narrated by: Vaneh Assadourian
  • Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (41 ratings)

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From Miniskirt to Hijab cover art

From Miniskirt to Hijab

Written by: Jacqueline Saper
Narrated by: Vaneh Assadourian
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Publisher's Summary

Jacqueline Saper, named after Jacqueline Kennedy, was born in Tehran to Iranian and British parents. At 18 she witnessed the civil unrest of the 1979 Iranian revolution and continued to live in the Islamic Republic during its most volatile times, including the Iran-Iraq War. In a deeply intimate and personal story, Saper recounts her privileged childhood in prerevolutionary Iran and how she gradually became aware of the paradoxes in her life and community - primarily the disparate religions and cultures.

In 1979 under the Ayatollah regime, Iran became increasingly unfamiliar and hostile to Saper. Seemingly overnight she went from living a carefree life of wearing miniskirts and attending high school to listening to fanatic diatribes, forced to wear the hijab, and hiding in the basement as Iraqi bombs fell over the city. She eventually fled to the United States in 1987 with her husband and children after, in part, witnessing her six-year-old daughter’s indoctrination into radical Islamic politics at school. At the heart of Saper’s story is a harrowing and instructive tale of how extremist ideologies seized a Westernized, affluent country and transformed it into a fundamentalist Islamic society.

©2018 Jaqueline Saper (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

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What listeners say about From Miniskirt to Hijab

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absolutely love this book

I learned so much from listening to this book about the modern history in Iran and the experience women have there. 100% recommended!

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Historical and heroic story

I thoroughly enjoyed learning the history of Iran, a country that I knew very little about besides how it is now as the Islamic Republic. The beautiful descriptions painted a clear picture of the beautiful country and gave me a greater understanding of the culture and how it came to be. Beautifully written and captivating story.

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Amazing book. Loved it.

This book was great. Narrator was perfect for the story. It was like listening to a real life version of Orwell’s 1984.

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An amazing memoir!

I loved this book from start to end. It’s a story of survival, while thriving in Iran during the revolution. Jacqueline Saper gives is the unique look into the revolution as a Jewish woman, mother, wife, friend. Her attention to detail takes you to the bazaar, the bombings, the racisms and the misogyny in Iran at that time. Read this book!

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Loved it

This was a story that felt passionate heart felt, sad at times, but very interesting to hear.

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Miniskirts to Mayhem

From Miniskirt to Hijab is a little gem of a book. The author writes of her childhood growing up in Iran before Komeini during the rule of the Shah of Iran who westernized the country. Whether that was a good thing or not is for the people of Iran to decide. The author grew up a typical teenager in the '70's with miniskirts and bikinis only to have change her whole lifestyle to become a young woman who had to cover herself from head to toe under penalty of death. Of course there is more to the story than clothes, I can hardly imagine my country changing to such a radical degree that I would fear for my life and would have to leave my homeland. It seems when all powerful men come to power women suffer. This story is not a heavy political diatribe it is a sweet story of a young girl who had to grow up quickly and make some difficult decisions. I quite enjoyed this book. Gayle

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Highly recommend!

Enjoyed every minute of this memoir. The narrator was excellent. Highly recommend for those wanting to learn more of the history of Iran.

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Amazing Book 5*

Loved this book tremendously, it was such an amazing and epic journey to go on with the narrator.

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  • AW
  • 2022-09-24

unique eye witness history

fascinating, informative and personal history of three distinct periods of Iranian history from the perspective of a religious minority

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So interesting and informative

Along with a great story. Very interesting to learn the history or Iran in a capitative way.

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