Audiobooks narrated by Shohreh Aghdashloo

Until We Are Free: My Fight for Human Rights in Iran

The first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi has inspired millions around the globe through her work as a human rights lawyer defending women and children against a brutal regime in Iran. Now Ebadi tells her story of courage and defiance in the face of a government out to destroy her, her family, and her mission: to bring justice to the people and the country she loves. For years the Islamic Republic tried to intimidate Ebadi, but after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose to power in 2005, the censorship and persecution intensified. The government wiretapped Ebadi's phones, bugged her law firm, sent spies to follow her, harassed her colleagues, detained her daughter, and arrested her sister on trumped-up charges. It shut down her lectures, fired up mobs to attack her home, seized her offices, and nailed a death threat to her front door. Despite finding herself living under circumstances reminiscent of a spy novel, nothing could keep Ebadi from speaking out and standing up for human dignity. But it was not until she received a phone call from her distraught husband-and he made a shocking confession that would all but destroy her family-that she realized what the intelligence apparatus was capable of to silence its critics. The Iranian government would end up taking everything from Shirin Ebadi-her marriage, friends, and colleagues, her home, her legal career, even her Nobel Prize-but the one thing it could never steal was her spirit to fight for justice and a better future. This is the amazing, at times harrowing, simply astonishing story of a woman who would never give up, no matter the risks. Just as her words and deeds have inspired a nation, Until We Are Free will inspire you to find the courage to stand up for your beliefs. Advance praise for Until We Are Free "Shirin Ebadi is quite simply the most vital voice for freedom and human rights in Iran."-Reza Aslan, author of No god but God and Zealot "Shirin Ebadi writes of exile hauntingly and speaks of Iran, her homeland, as the poets do. Ebadi is unafraid of addressing the personal as well as the political and does both fiercely, with introspection and fire."-Fatima Bhutto, author of The Shadow of the Crescent Moon "I would encourage all to read Dr. Shirin Ebadi's memoir and to understand how her struggle for human rights continued after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. It is also fascinating to see how she has been affected positively and negatively by her Nobel Prize. This is a must read for all."-Desmond Tutu "A revealing portrait of the state of political oppression in Iran . . . [Ebadi] is an inspiring figure, and her suspenseful, evocative story is unforgettable."-Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Ebadi's courage and strength of character are evident throughout this engrossing text, which illuminates the power the few have had over the many, particularly the women and children of Iran. The captivating and candid story of a woman who took on the Iranian government and survived, despite every attempt to make her fail."-Kirkus Reviews

Shirin Ebadi (Author), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Narrator)

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And the Mountains Echoed: A Novel by the Bestselling Author of the Kite Runner and a Thousand Splend

An unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else. Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.

Khaled Hosseini (Author), Khaled Hosseini, Navid Negahban, Shohreh Aghdashloo (Narrator)

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The Bible of Clay

In St. Peter's Basilica, a man sits in a confessional asking forgiveness for a murder he's about to commit. And a young priest begins a desperate journey to stop him. . . . It's only the beginning of a ruthless race among the world's most powerful to find a rumored cache of sacred texts inscribed with the story of Creation as told by Abraham. This account, on tablets of clay, predates the Bible by a thousand years and could be one of the most important discoveries of all time. Archaeologist Clara Tannenberg's announcement of an excavation to seek the tablets has set off shock waves of outrage, contempt, and outright disbelief. But among four old friends, bound through decades by shared tragedy, the announcement has renewed their hunger for revenge. For Clara's reclusive, infamous grandfather Alfred is a man as feared as he is hated and his enemies will stop at nothing to destroy him, and will use anything as a weapon . . . even his granddaughter. As Clara and her husband Ahmed put together a ragtag team to excavate the Bible of Clay from deep within the heart of Iraq, another far more sinister team is determined to get there first. Sweeping from the time of the biblical patriarchs to the front lines of the Iraqi conflict to the parties and back rooms of Washington, D.C., THE BIBLE OF CLAY is a thriller of unrelenting, thought-provoking, and all-too-plausible suspense. From the Compact Disc edition.

Julia Navarro (Author), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Narrator)

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The Blood Flowers

At the age of fourteen, a young woman in 17th-century Persia believes she will be married within the year. But when her beloved father dies, collapsing in the field where he works with the other men from their village, there is no hope for a dowry. Alone and penniless, she and her grieving mother are forced to sell the brilliant turquoise rug the young woman has woven,meant, of course, for her married life, to pay for their journey to Isfahan. There they will work as servants for her uncle Gostaham, a rich rug designer in the court of the Shah, and be lorded over by Gostaham's wife. Despite her lowly station, the young woman blossoms as a brilliant weaver of carpets, a rarity in a craft dominated by men. But while her artistic gift flourishes, her prospects for a happy marriage grow dim. Forced into a secret marriage with a man who will never take her as his first wife, the young woman is faced with a daunting decision: forsake her own dignity, or risk everything she has in an effort to maintain it. Amirrezvani infuses her story with lush detail, brilliantly bringing to life the sights sounds and life of 17th-century Isfahan: The dazzling architecture; the exotic Persian foods; the breathtakingly beautiful rugs. A sweeping love story, a powerful coming-of-age story, and a luminous portrait of a city, this is a universal tale of one woman's struggle to live a life of her choosing.

Anita Amirrezvani (Author), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Narrator)

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Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia

On September 11, 2001, Carmen bin Ladin heard the news that the Twin Towers had been struck. She instinctively knew that her brother-in-law was involved in these horrifying acts of terrorism, and her heart went out to America. She also knew that her life and the lives of her daughters would never be the same again.In 1974, Carmen, half-Swiss and half-Persian, married into the bin Ladin family. She was young and in love, an independent European woman about to join a complex clan and a culture she neither knew nor understood. In Saudi Arabia, she was forbidden to leave her home without the head-to-toe black abaya that completely covered her. Her face could never be seen by a man outside the family. And according to Saudi law, her husband could divorce her at will, without any kind of court procedure, and take her children away from her forever.Carmen was an outsider among the bin Ladin wives, their closets full of haute couture dresses, their rights so restricted that they could not go outside their homes, not even to cross the street, without a chaperone. The author takes us inside the hearts and minds of these women, always at the mercy of the husbands who totally control their lives, and always convinced that their religion and culture are superior to any other. And as Carmen tells of her struggle to save her marriage and raise her daughters to be freethinking young women, she describes this family's ties to the Saudi royal family and introduces us to the ever loyal bin Ladin brothers, including one particular brother-in-law she was to encounter: Osama.In 1988, in Switzerland, Carmen bin Ladin separated from her husband and began one of her toughest battles: to gain the custody of her three daughters. Now, with her candid memoir, she dares to pull off the veils that conceal one of the most powerful, secretive, and repressive countries in the world, and the bin Ladin family's role within it.

Carmen Bin Ladin (Author), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Shohreh Aghdashloo