One Woman's War: Da (Mother) : the Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

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Laetitia Nanquette

Paul Sprachman's endeavour to translate contemporary Sacred defence texts, the Iranian narratives of the Iran-Iraq war, is timely, as they form a crucial part of contemporary Iranian culture virtually unknown to English speaking audiences. One Woman's War is a best-seller right at the heart of this fascinating history and has reinvigorated the discourse on the war in Iran, Informed by a deep knowledge of Iran and of the subtleties of the Persian language, Sprachman's erudite and definitive translation is a vivid rendering of the story of one extraordinary woman.

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M. A. Abtahi

The life of Zahra Hoseyni is a lexicon of battle with entries rarely recorded in the literature of war.

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A. Dastghayb

Very few books tell the story of the popular resistance to the surprise Iraqi attack on Khorramshahr as coherently, captivatingly, and with as much precision as Da.

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M. M. Khaleqi

More than a simple memoir, Da with its wealth of detail packs more punch than a novel.

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Book Self Description

Most recollections of war are the stories of boys and men in combat. One Woman's War is unusual because it is about a teenage girl whose life is turned upside down by the Iraqi attack on Khorramshahr. The strong-willed Zahra Hoseyni finds herself resisting both the Iraqi invaders and the Iranian defenders of the city, many of whom object to a woman taking an active part in war. The book offers a striking picture of the effects of the 1980-88 War on the lives of ordinary people. A runaway best seller in Iran, One Woman's War also gives readers a nuanced understanding of why many Iranians embraced martyrdom to defeat their enemies.