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VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Palaner//palaner Single Event//EN
METHOD:PUBLISH
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:meetup-fa6ddabb3c@palaner.app
DTSTAMP:20260802T141210Z
DTSTART:20260813T223000Z
DTEND:20260814T003000Z
SUMMARY:Prisoner of Tehran - by Marina Nemat
LOCATION:Restaurant within 4 min walk from Bloor-Yonge
DESCRIPTION:Saved in Palaner as: saved\n\nPalaner match: 27% · why: lots of
  people going\n\nCANADIAN AUTHOR 🇨🇦\nWhat would you give up to protect you
 r loved ones? Your life? In her heartbreaking\, triumphant\, and elegantly
  written memoir\, Prisoner of Tehran\, Marina Nemat tells the heart-poundi
 ng story of her life as a young girl in Iran during the early days of Ayat
 ollah Khomeini's brutal Islamic Revolution.\n\nIn January 1982\, Marina Ne
 mat\, then just sixteen years old\, was arrested\, tortured\, and sentence
 d to death for political crimes. Until then\, her life in Tehran had cente
 red around school\, summer parties at the lake\, and her crush on Andre\, 
 the young man she had met at church. But when math and history were subord
 inated to the study of the Koran and political propaganda\, Marina protest
 ed. Her teacher replied\, "If you don't like it\, leave." She did\, and\, 
 to her surprise\, other students followed.\n\nSoon she was arrested with h
 undreds of other youths who had dared to speak out\, and they were taken t
 o the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. Two guards interrogated her. One be
 at her into unconsciousness\; the other\, Ali\, fell in love with her.\n\n
 Sentenced to death for refusing to give up the names of her friends\, she 
 was minutes from being executed when Ali\, using his family connections to
  Ayatollah Khomeini\, plucked her from the firing squad and had her senten
 ce reduced to life in prison. But he exacted a shocking price for saving h
 er life -- with a dizzying combination of terror and tenderness\, he asked
  her to marry him and abandon her Christian faith for Islam. If she didn't
 \, he would see to it that her family was harmed. She spent the next two y
 ears as a prisoner of the state\, and of the man who held her life\, and h
 er family's lives\, in his hands.\n\nLyrical\, passionate\, and suffused t
 hroughout with grace and sensitivity\, Marina Nemat's memoir is like no ot
 her. Her search for emotional redemption envelops her jailers\, her husban
 d and his family\, and the country of her birth -- each of whom she grants
  the greatest gift of all: forgiveness.\n\n═════ Discussion questions:\n\n
 TBD\nFacilitator: Andrii\n\n═════ $$ Refundable deposit:\n\nWe'd like to m
 ake sure everyone on the RSVP actually intends to join us and enjoy the ev
 ent.\n\nPlease make a refundable deposit of $5 to hold your spot\, via Pay
 pal or Interac e-transfer to toronto.nonfiction@gmail.com\, when you RSVP 
 or shortly thereafter. If you are waitlisted please wait until a spot open
 s up for you before making a transfer.\n\nYou'll get your $5 back in cash 
 if you join us at the event. If you decide to drop out later or not attend
 \, consider this a donation to support our meetup and zoom subscriptions\,
  which aren't cheap. Thank you!\n\n═════ Meeting format:\n\nWe meet to dis
 cuss the book after having read it beforehand.\nA facilitator guides the d
 iscussion ensuring that everyone has a chance to speak\, one person at a t
 ime.\nWarning: Participation in a book club is a dangerous activity. You m
 ay encounter opinions different from yours. By joining the group you agree
  to assume all risks.
URL:https://www.meetup.com/non-fictionbookclubtoronto/events/315552081/
CATEGORIES:palaner,saved
STATUS:TENTATIVE
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