Reviewer June Maffin:Living on an island in British Columbia, Canada, Dr. Maffin is a neophyte organic gardener, eclectic reader, ordained minister (Anglican/Episcopal priest) and creative spirituality writer/photographer with a deep zest for life. Previously, she has been grief counselor, broadcaster, teacher, journalist, television host, chaplain and spiritual director with an earned doctorate in Pastoral Care (medical ethics i.e. euthanasia focus). Presently an educator, freelance editor, blogger, and published author of three books, her most recent (Soulistry-Artistry of the Soul: Creative Ways to Nurture your Spirituality) has been published in e-book as well as paperback format and a preview can be viewed on YouTube videos. Founder of Soulistry™ she continues to lead a variety of workshops and retreats connecting spirituality with creativity and delights in a spirituality of play. You can find out more about June by clicking on her Web Site.
Author: Rahimeh Andalibian
Publisher: Nightingale
Press
ISBN: 978-0615672236
“If only. If
only.” Ahhh, the “if only” thoughts of our lives.
“If only” Rahimeh’s brother Abdollah had no car … “if only”
he hadn’t left the house in secret … “if only” he hadn’t
been seen with a girl not wearing a headscarf and hadn’t reacted …
“if only” the author's father hadn’t been such an authoritarian
parent … “if only” the family didn’t live in Iran where
obedience to the father was imperative. Obedience to Baba was
expected, for “to disobey would be to shatter the delicate peace”
in the family.
But was it truly peace or rather was it
merely subservience to a culture, a domineering and controlling
parent, a chaotic time in history? This heart-breaking book
explores this and other questions in a most provocative
way.
Iranian-born author, clinical psychologist Dr. Rahimeh
Andalibian, delicately and poignantly tells the real-life story of
her Iranian Muslim life in Iran and later as a new immigrant to the
United States. The reader follows her story of a young girl,
her two brothers and parents living the reality of Iran’s 1979
revolution. Politics, evil, family secrets, betrayal, brutality and
lies were Rahimeh’s childhood formation. One day, she is a
child, living a life of tranquility, beauty, prosperity and
innocently playing hide and go seek with her brothers. The next
day, she is abruptly separated from her family and home without
explanation. The child quickly grows up as tempers flare,
family security is violated, silence around-certain-issues pervades,
and parents no longer seem able to cope with the reality of their
tragic lives.
A move to the United States brought hope for
healing, hope for reconciliation, hope for a future. But that
hope was short-lived. They were new immigrants in a world where
language and customs brought culture shock and new problems. And,
although they had escaped the terrors of Iran, no one in the family
was free from the hidden truths and festering lies that came with
them and burrowed deeply in their minds and hearts. Like land
mines, when the secrets erupted, they brought devastating
heart-ache.
This is a book about one family, but it is also a
book about all families regardless of country of origin, language,
sexual orientation, race or religion. The gift of this book is
in its ability to be a reminder of our shared humanity where … all
families have secrets … all parents make mistakes … all children
act at some time without thought of consequence … where sorrow is
not reserved just for certain people … where tragedy doesn’t only
occur to bad people … and where hope can sustain.