Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
In Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Marji’s remembers her life during those years, mostly from when she was about ten to age fourteen. This account includes how Marji and her family lived through and were affected by turbulent events that included the overthrow of the autocratic Shah of Iran by the Islamic revolution, the oppressive fundamentalist regime that replaced the Shah, and the devasting Iran-Iraq war.
The nation’s wealth has long made it a target of outside invaders, but Islamic revolution of 1979 has pushed out the Western-backed government of the Shah. The revolution has ushered in a new Islamic regime that is bringing massive societal changes impacting how people are supposed to behave–including Marji and her family. Marji struggles to adjust to the changes at her liberal French bilingual school, which has become increasingly stricter. Girls are required to wear veils and female and male students are now separated. Marji’s wealthy and modern parents—her father, Ebi, and her mother, Taji—take part in the massive protests against the new regime’s strict rules on behavior (just as they had previously protested against the Shah’s regime).