Book Tour - Book Feature - The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmine - Shohreh Aghdashloo

Synopsis:  Shohreh Aghdashlooshares her remarkable personal journey—from a childhood in the Shah's Iran to the red carpets of Hollywood—in this dazzling memoir of family, faith, revolution, and hope.

Enchanted by the movies she watched while growing up in affluent Tehran in the 1950s and '60s, Shohreh Aghdashloo dreamed of becoming an actress despite her parents' more practical plans. When she fell in love and married her husband, Aydin, a painter twelve years her senior, she made him promise he'd allow her to follow her passion.

The first years of her marriage were magical. As Shohreh began to build a promising career, Aydin worked at the royal offices as an art director while exhibiting his paintings in Tehran. But in 1979 revolution swept Iran, toppling the Shah and installing an Islamic republic under the Ayatollah Khomeini. Alarmed by the stifling new restrictions on womenand art, Shohreh made the bold and dangerous decision to escape the new regime and her home country. Leaving her family and the man she loved behind, she fled in a covert journey to Europe and eventually to Los Angeles.

In this moving, deeply personal memoir, Shohreh shares her story: it is a tale of privilege and affluence, pain and prejudice, tenacity and success. She writes poignantly about her struggles as an outsider in a for-eign culture—as a woman, a Muslim, and an Iranian—adapting to a new land and a new language. She shares behind-the-scenes stories about what it's really like to be a Hollywood actress—including being snubbed by two of Tinseltown's biggest names on Oscar night.

Lyrical and atmospheric, The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines is a powerful story of ambition, art, politics, terror, and courage—of an extraordinary woman determined to live her dreams.

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper (June 4, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006200980X
• ISBN-13: 978-0062009807

Author:  Shohreh Aghdashloo won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for HBO's House of Saddam and was the first Iranian actress to be nominated for an Academy Award, for her role in House of Sand and Fog. She has starred in the Fox series 24, and has been featured in a number of television shows and films. Born and raised in Tehran, she now lives in Los Angeles.

Review:  We just received this book so the review will follow in a few weeks.

Amazon Reviews: