One Life, Three Cultures

One Life, Three Cultures: An Iranian-Armenian Odyssey is a collection of memories of the author’s life starting with the premature death of her father in 1936 when she was a child, through sweeter memories of her grandparents’ home in New Julfa where she was immersed in their wonderfully uncomplicated lives. The memoir weaves through the family’s hardships during WWII and Iran’s occupation by the Allied Forces. The next decade coincides with the author’s college years when political turmoil, police presence on university campuses and clashes with unarmed student demonstrators were frequent occurrences. It is a tale of her life in England – where she traveled as a student, visitor and temporary resident. And ultimately, it is about the United States where her family settled down in 1976, after leaving Iran at the peak of its prosperity, unaware of the fact that it would soon collapse, followed by the turmoil of renewed political conflicts. It is about the experience of establishing new roots, while holding on to the old, of gracefully embracing a new culture, while exploring new possibilities to maintain and cultivate ancient traditions.