Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik is historical fiction based on the life of Forugh Farrokhzad, Iran’s most famous female poet. In Tehran in the 1950’s Persian daughters were expected to be quiet, remain indoors unless in the company of an escort and their voices were unilaterally silenced. Farrokhzad rebelled against these traditions writing and eventually publishing some of the boldest poetry ever to come out of Iran.

Breaking free of a difficult marriage, Farrokhzad is forced to leave her son behind, and in her quest for freedom of expression, scandal followed her most of her life. Darznik captures the mood and feeling of the time and place beautifully, which makes it all the more amazing that Farrokhzad stopped at nothing to have her voice heard; first through poetry and later through films. This was nothing short of revolutionary for a woman at the time. A sad, but also beautiful and inspiring story of a woman who lived life on her own terms, and paid the price for it. A great read.