The Blindfold Horse: Memories of a Persian Childhood - Tapa blanda

Sunday Times: "Exquisite. It conveys a sense of the country and its customs, which reveal better than most documents, the nature of the crisis which Iran is still enduring." John Train, author and co-founder of the Paris Review: "One of the best books of the 20th century... Stands comparison with Out of Africa." '...(the book) has long held the status of a classic...It remains the perfect memoir, and one of the best books for acquainting readers with Persia...'Social Affairs Unit, April 2005

Long before the momentous Iranian Revolution of 1979, which placed the country under strict religious rule, Shusha Guppy grew up in a Persia delicately balanced between traditional Islamic society and the transforming forces of westernisation. In this eloquent memoir, she recreates the lost world of her childhood before the oil boom and the eventual overthrow of the Shah. Her magical tales about relatives and friends, music and drama, religious holidays and celebrations are interwoven with myth and legend, poetry and anecdote and provide a rare and optimistic portrayal of Iran. This is an enlightening and moving testimony of a vanished world: a story as vibrant as Iran itself.