Enchanted by the Hollywood movies she watched while
growing up in affluent Tehran in the 1950s and 1960s,
Shohreh Aghdashloo dreamed of becoming an actress,
despite her parents more practical plans. When she fell
in love with her husband, Aydin, a painter thirteen
years her senior, she made him promise he'd allow her to
follow her passion. Filled with hard work and extensive
travel throughout Europe and the Middle East, the first
years of her marriage were magical. As Shohreh began to
build her acclaimed career, Aydin worked for the
Minister of Art and Culture, exhibiting his art in
Tehran. But in 1978 revolution swept across Iran,
toppling the Shah and instilling a new religious regime
under the Ayatollah Khomeini. Terrified of the stifling
new restrictions on women and art, Shohreh realized that
she, too, had to escape. Leaving the man she loved
behind, she made her way to Europe and eventually to
Hollywood. In this moving memoir, Shohreh shares her
story: a tale of privilege and affluence, pain and
prejudice, tenacity and success. She writes poignantly
about her struggles as an outsider in a new culture - as
a woman, a Muslim, and an Iranian - adopting to a new
land and a new language. And 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 Jasmines is a
powerful story of ambition, art, politics, terror, and
courage - of an extraodinary woman determined to live
her dreams.
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