A mirror garden

by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian

In Persia in 1924, when a child still had to worry about hostile camels in the bazaar, the extraordinary and irresistible Monir was born. From the enchanted basement storeroom where she played as a girl to the penthouse high above New York City where she would someday live, this is the story of her life as an artist, a wife and mother, a collector, and an Iranian. Born an adventurer and a tomboy, the mischievous girl becomes a spirited young woman defiant of tradition: traveling to America during World War II; training as an artist; escaping a disastrous marriage; and learning to support herself and her baby, before an Iranian of royal descent whisks her back to Tehran for her second wedding. Home again, Monir discovers the neglected folk arts of far-flung regions and explores her own creative impulse. She throws parties and delights in road trips in the decades before the rise of radical fundamentalism forces her to leave everything behind and begin a new life in New York.--From publi