Persian Requiem by Simin Daneshvar Simin Daneshvar's A Persian Requiem was the first novel written and published by an Iranian woman. It tells the powerful and moving story of Zari, an anxious, tradition-bound woman and mother of three young children who is caught up in the political violence that swept Iran during World War II. When her husband, a feudal landowner who is determine not to comprimise his principles or politics, decides to keep his grain to feed the peasants on his estates, instead of selling it to the British army, violence erupts. Zari then finds herself with the unexpected and courageous strength to resist oppression. PA, ISBN: 0807614610 $15.95 (Can: $24.00)