Leila's Secret by Kooshyar Karimi

Author : Kooshyar Karimi
Title : Leila's Secret
Published : 2017
Publisher : Penguin Books Australia
Pages : 304
Genre : Biography / Auto Biography

     In fundamentalist Iran, new life sometimes means certain death. When Leila comes to see Doctor Karimi, both are in danger. His could be a comfortable life but his conscience won't permit it: he is incapable of turning away the unmarried women who beg him to save their lives by ending the pregnancies that, if discovered, would see them stoned to death. One of those women is 22 - year - old Leila. Beautiful, intelligent, passionate, she yearns to go to university but her strictly traditional family forbids it. Returning home from the library one day - among the few trips she's allowed out of the house - she meets a handsome shopkeeper, and her fate is sealed. Kooshyar has rescued countless women, but Leila seeks his help for a different reason, one that will haunt him for years afterward and inspire an impossible quest from faraway Australia. 

     When it comes to this book I would be hard pressed to say it is an enjoyable read. It is however worthy of our time and patience. This for me is one of those books that expand our knowledge of the world we live in on a subject matter there is no other way I could have come across. There are certain fundamental rights that we so take for grant that it is hard to imagine a world without them. But as recent events in the U.S have shown us they can so easily be taken away. One of these I would hope for is the right for a women over her own body. But as I delved into this book It becomes apparent very quickly that this is something a lot of women in Iran at the time of this books writing don't have. I can't say if it is any different know as there is little places to go looking for this information. It is also a world of double standards which I think is something that does have a coloration to the place I call home.   Why is it that a woman must remain a virgin to her wedding night but not so for the man. 

     This book was one of the hardest I have read in quite a while. At no point did I feel I was being sugar-coated. This becomes all too apparent in the first few chapters as we are introduced to the doctor. He describes in no uncertain terms what it is like to have an abortion in Iran. It is painful to read let alone go through. It feels just as relevant now as it was at the time of writing. The events described in the book may have taken place in the past but it still proves one thing. If you ban abortion it will not stop it happening it just pushes it deeper underground. The doctor for his part does all he can for each of the women who come knocking at his door. He is a man who cares deeply for the situation each of them finds themselves in but with the threat of death over his head and each of these women, it is a hard struggle to go through. 

     But this is a book of two halves and it would hardly be fair to only speak of the doctor when the book bears another's name as it's title. Leila is someone who is full of her own secrets and the weight she carries is one I can't begin to comprehend. It is through her that we get to learn of the life of women under such a strict regime. They have no rights, and freedom is taken away from them at birth. They are brought up with the expectation that they will be good and faithful wives, no more no less. Any thoughts of making more of themselves is cast aside. And while some have fought for a better place in their world they would appear to be few and far between. And they are left to lead a careful life so as not to step too far out of line. Sometimes I think we forget just how much freedom we have. 

     This book will not be for everyone, It is not the sort of thing you can read in just one sitting. I put it down more times than I can count so as I could process the things I was reading about. But it is enlightening. It gives us some insight into the struggle of women around the world and that there is still a fight that continues. For some the will not agree with what the doctor does on religious or moral grounds. The thought of abortion for them is abhorrent. But as time has tried to tell us time and again this will happen and it will continue to. So surely it is better than it is done safely. These are two people I have the greatest respect for, the insurmountable odds they went through should not be taken lightly.