4 out of 4 stars
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Have you ever read a tragic story before? How did you feel?—angry, vengeful or perhaps saddened. The Buried Secrets of Peonies is a collection of eight tragic stories that can have such an effect on a person’s emotions. The author, Mernegar Dorgoly, is a young writer who was born and raised in Iran but she is presently living in Florida.
The book is about the bloody massacre that took place during the 1979 Iranian revolution. It revealed a dark period in the history of Iran. The new regime that took over power targeted minor groups and former high-ranking officials. These persons were either tortured, kidnapped or killed and some of these incidents were unreported. It describes the trauma that each victim faced, felt, and endured. The most painful of these experiences can be really hard to point out. Is it the girl that was raped every night or the mother that discovered the lifeless body of her son, buried underneath the soil?—the stories were tragic indeed. It further tells stories of how ordinary people had their dreams cut short under such a chaotic period in Iran.
Each story is well presented with a vivid description of the scenes—this helps the reader to imagine the traumas experienced by the victims. For example, the bouts of depression a person suffers when he or she losses a loved one; the aftermath of a rape and the dehumanizing treatment of inmates. It was helpful to see footnotes at the bottom of the pages that explained the meaning of some unfamiliar words such as chador and Adhan. The book mentioned the number of persons killed in that single regime (about 3,800 in less than four months). It is quite impressive the way the author was able to present each situation as the victim would have related his or her experience.
However, it must be noted that each chapter is made up of a different story. Therefore, a reader must be able to separate each story from others and be able to read between the lines. There might be feelings of fear, anger, and sadness as a reader flips through the pages. Similarly, each story seems incomplete and leaves the reader in suspense. Also, it might bring back painful memories to victims of rape and those who were imprisoned unjustly in the past.
I rate The Buried Secrets of Peonies 4 out of 4 stars: it is well edited, realistic and vivid. It is particularly suitable for mature readers who can handle such intense emotions. Human-rights activists, especially those from Iran, will find it interesting. Likewise, Iranian youths can learn about the history of their country in this book.
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The Buried Secrets of Peonies
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