Embroideries [Paperback]

From the best–selling author ofPersepoliscomes this gloriously entertaining and enlightening look into the sex lives of Iranian women.Embroideriesgathers together Marjane’s tough–talking grandmother, stoic mother, glamorous and eccentric aunt and their friends and neighbors for an afternoon of tea drinking and talking. Naturally, the subject turns to love, sex and the vagaries of men.

As the afternoon progresses, these vibrant women share their secrets, their regrets and their often outrageous stories about, among other things, how to fake one’s virginity, how to escape an arranged marriage, how to enjoy the miracles of plastic surgery and how to delight in being a mistress. By turns revealing and hilarious, these are stories about the lengths to which some women will go to find a man, keep a man or, most important, keep up appearances.

Full of surprises, this introduction to the private lives of some fascinating women, whose life stories and lovers will strike us as at once deeply familiar and profoundly different from our own, is sure to bring smiles of recognition to the faces of women everywhere—and to teach us all a thing or two.“Tantalizing . . . Bold, bewitchingly humorous and politically astute . . . A cheeky and knowing peek at the loves, sexual histories and marital secrets of . . . these beautiful and seductive women.”
—Elle

“Endearing . . . A wicked read.”
—Los Angeles Times

“Humorous and bawdy . . . An amusing portrayal of independent women taking life in stride.”
—The Village Voice

“Embroideriesis as funny, opinionated, controversial and surprising as any good comic or conversation should be.”
—Time.com

“Subversive . . . Satrapi’s book is a mocking rebuke to the cult of chastity, and a statement about the way human passions find their waylă!