Henrietta Lacks was an Afro-American woman who lived in the 1950s. She had cervix cancer and had some of the diseased tissue removed without her consent. Her cells were the first ones that scientists were able to harvest and grow, and they multiplied like crazy. With the help of Henrietta’s cells, the polio vaccine was developed as well as numerous other medical benefits. In fact, her cells have been used by medical researchers worldwide. Henrietta died but her children never knew at the time that her cells were taken from her and were used for research.

The author taught in Tehran before and after the Revolution and the war against Irak. She loves her homeland but is oppressed by the regime. She quits her job at the University but chooses a few female students and teaches them illegally at her home. Their lives are entertwined with the banned books that are being studied, works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, Jane Austen, and Vladimie Nabokov. The women do not live fullfilled lives because they do not have the freedom to tap into their potential. A lot of them end up leaving the country.