The reader is drawn into Moore-Gilbert’s concerns,for the book is like a detailed and immensely readable journal. At times in the memoir she reflects that the whole of Iran is like a prison,with ordinary people forced to be hyper-vigilant to avoid coming under government scrutiny:under such regimes it is hard for people not to betray others to save themselves. Loyal friendships and trustworthy people are true lifelines. The physical privations,gross as they are (why are the toilets kept in such filthy conditions?),pale beside the psychological tortures:micromanagement of every aspect of communication,with deprivation of reading or writing materials;solitary confinement and the utter lack of agency and control.

Moore-Gilbert is able to make some solid friendships among other imprisoned women,whose “crimes” are as false and nebulous as her own:Niloufar is a conservationist,Hoda a human rights lawyer,Elena a high-ranking executive who knew too much. When these kind and wise women are transferred away to another jail,Kylie is bereft. Her relationships are controlled by the guards and ultimately the man who is in personal charge of her case,who calls himself various names,but is generally known as Qasi Zadeh.

His behaviour is depressingly comparable to that of abusers worldwide:he controls all aspects of her life,from her prison conditions to her access to what passes for justice in Iran courts. Her writing is trenchant when she relates his attempts to flirt with her:at one point a go-between approaches her to ask her to become a “second wife”. Such personal invasion is what all women endure in theocratic dictatorships on a nationwide scale. Zadeh constantly attempts to break through her dignity,to compel her to respond to him.