Mary Shafa

Maryam Mary Shafa

With one-foot firm set in pre-revolutionary Iran and one foot in modern America, Maryam's life draws a picture of the cultural clash between old and new, East and West, and men and women in the time period before and after the Iranian revolution of 1979. Maryam grew up as a beauty pageant queen who believed that a wonderful life would open to her, but instead found a world that was determined to clip her wings at every turn. Thwarted at her every attempt to move up and move on, she agreed to a marriage of convenience that offered her a ticket to the United States. But little did she know that no matter how far away she flew, the restraints of her culture would never let her fly free. Yearned-for escape became a prison in her new country, when she found that distance from Iran alone could not liberate her body or her mind.

Traveling between America and Iran with the mystery and promise of the open the road, Maryam's natural optimism, perseverance and self-worth are severely tested during her immigrant's journey. Growing up the daughter of a wealthy business owner in Tabriz, Maryam is shocked to find herself living in poverty when she arrives in the land of opportunity. As her life and identity become lost in the battle between hope and despair, Maryam must find a middle ground between the oppressive country she can no longer endure, and the American dream that is far from her reach.