The Poet's Daughter: Malek o'Shoara Bahar of Iran and the Immortal Song of Freedom
.cs2654AE3A{text-align:left;text-indent:0pt;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt} .cs4C3DDAB8{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Calibri; font-size:11pt; font-weight:normal; font-style:normal; } .cs566403DE{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt; font-weight:normal; font-style:normal; }The author is the daughter of perhaps the most distinguished Iranian poet of the 20th century, Mohammad Taqi Bahar (1884–1951), also known as Malek o’ Sho’ara Bahar (King of Poets). Because of the enormous importance of poetry in Persian culture and her father’s unique place in its preservation, creation, and innovation, Bahar’s account of her family life is of value both to students of Persian and to the country’s history. The family picture that she evokes here is one of intimacy shaped by a background of political autocracy under the late Shah’s father, Reza Shah Pahlavi. What could such a regime think of an outspoken democrat who insisted on the equality of women and enjoyed alcohol? The book represents the testimony of the author’s own remarkable life. Following her father’s exile and imprisonment under Reza Shah and his tubercular death in Switzerland, Bahar traveled to the United States—over 50 years ago—for university studies, a new life, and involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Her return to Iran after the fall of the Shah is dramatically rendered. VERDICT This well-written combination biography and memoir will be of particular interest to students of Iranian history but should also appeal to general readers of nonfiction.—Zachary T. Irwin, Penn State Univ.–Erie, Library Journal, Sept., 15, 2011