The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines

Oscar nominee and Emmy Award–winning actress Shohreh Aghdashloo shares her remarkable personal journey—from a childhood in the Shah’s Iran to the red carpets of Hollywood—in The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines, a dazzling memoir of family, faith, and hope.
 
When Shohreh Aghdashloo was growing up in Teheran, stardom was a distant dream, especially since her parents had more practical plans for their daughter...
 
When revolution swept Iran in 1978, the Ayatollah Khomeini’s religious regime brought stifling restrictions on women and art. Shohreh Aghdashloo seized the moment and boldly left her husband for Europe and eventually, America, a vastly different culture.
 
Shohreh Aghdashloo writes poignantly about her struggles as an outsider in a new culture—as a woman, a Muslim, and a Persian—adapting to a new land and a new language, and shares behind-the-scenes stories about what it’s really like to be an actress in Hollywood.

The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines includes original color photographs from the author.

“' The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines is one woman's straightforward account of the upheaval in Iran and her determination to overcome its impact on her life.' ( Shelf Awareness )”

"Aghdashloo has a fascinating life story to tell, which she recounts in her memoir, The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines." -- Kirkus Reviews "The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines is one woman's straightforward account of the upheaval in Iran and her determination to overcome its impact on her life." -- Shelf Awareness

Winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for House of Saddam, Shohreh Aghdashloo, 59, is the first Iranian actress to be nominated for an Academy Award, for her role in House of Sand and Fog. She also won acclaim for her role on the fourth season of Fox’s 24. Aghdashloo was born in Tehran in 1952, where at age 20, she achieved national stardom for her work on stage and screen. During the 1978 Islamic revolution, Aghdashloo left Iran for England, and has since moved to Los Angeles, where she continues her successful acting career.

Oscar nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress Shohreh Aghdashloo shares her remarkable personal journey--from a childhood in the Shah's Iran to the red carpets of Hollywood--in this dazzling memoir of family, faith, revolution, and hope. Enchanted by the movies she watched while growing up in affluent Tehran in the 1950s and '60s, Shohreh Aghdashloo dreamed of becoming an actress despite her parents' more practical plans. When she fell in love and married her husband, Aydin, a painter twelve years her senior, she made him promise he'd allow her to follow her passion. The first years of her marriage were magical. As Shohreh began to build a promising career, Aydin worked at the royal offices as an art director while exhibiting his paintings in Tehran. But in 1979 revolution swept Iran, toppling the Shah and installing an Islamic republic under the Ayatollah Khomeini. Alarmed by the stifling new restrictions on women and art, Shohreh made the bold and dangerous decision to escape the new regime and her home country. Leaving her family and the man she loved behind, she fled in a covert journey to Europe and eventually to Los Angeles. In this moving, deeply personal memoir, Shohreh shares her story: it is a tale of privilege and affluence, pain and prejudice, tenacity and success. She writes poignantly about her struggles as an outsider in a for-eign culture--as a woman, a Muslim, and an Iranian--adapting to a new land and a new language. She shares behind-the-scenes stories about what it's really like to be a Hollywood actress--including being snubbed by two of Tinseltown's biggest names on Oscar night. Lyrical and atmospheric, The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines is a powerful story of ambition, art, politics, terror, and courage--of an extraordinary woman determined to live her dreams.

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