The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life. by Jasmin Darznik

One day shortly after her father's death, when Jasmin Darznik is helping her mother move house, a photograph falls from a stack of old letters. The girl in it is her mother. She is wearing a wedding veil, and at her side stands a man whom Jasmin has never seen before. Despite Jasmin's pleas, her mother Lili refuses to say anything about the photograph, and Jasmin returns home frustrated and confused. But months later, she receives the first of ten cassette tapes from her mother revealing a wrenching hidden story of her family's true origins in Iran: Lili's troubled history of abuse and neglect, and a daughter she was forced to abandon in order to escape that life. The final tape reveals that Jasmin's sister, Sara - the Good Daughter - is still living in Iran. In this sweeping, poignant and beautifully written memoir, Jasmin skilfully weaves the stories of three generations of Iranian women into a unique tale of one family's struggle for freedom. The result is an enchanting and unforgettable story of secrets, betrayal, and the unbreakable mother-daughter bond.