Zarah Ghahramani was born in Tehran in 1981, two years after Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran to establish the Islamic Republic. Zarah's life changed suddenly in 2001 when, after having taken part in student demonstrations, she was arrested (literally snatched off the street by security agents and bundled into the back of a car) and charged with 'inciting crimes against the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran'.
Her interrogation was harsh – while imprisoned in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison her head was shaved, and she was beaten and sexually abused. After being released, she was not permitted to return to her university studies, and came to realise that she had no future in her native land. Robert Hillman, an Australian writer, eventually helped get her to Australia, where she now has permanent residency.
My Life As a Traitor is a tremendously powerful and beautifully written memoir of Zarah's life in Iran, revealing the human face behind the headlines describing the turmoil of the modern Middle East.
