Why am I passionate about this?

I am the Chief Legal Officer at a US publicly traded company. Although I was born in Iran, I immigrated to the US from Iran at age ten. When I was three years old, my father’s side of the family tried to take my brother and me away from my mother after my father passed away. She fought a custody battle and lawsuit and eventually was forced to flee Iran with us during the revolution. I am passionate about the Iranian Revolution, my relationship with my very strong and remarkable mother who has been a mentor to me, as well as family relationships within Iranian families.


I wrote...

Imperfect: A Story about Loss, Courage, and Perseverance

By Katy Motiey,

Book cover of Imperfect: A Story about Loss, Courage, and Perseverance

What is my book about?

This is the story of one woman’s loss, courage, love, and perseverance before and during the Iranian Revolution. It is…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Katy Motiey Why did I love this book?

I love “Persepolis” because the author very accurately and with a great amount of humor describes, and through graphics, portrays the very heavy topic of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. 

She makes it easy for people who weren’t there at the time and are not a part of the culture or history to imagine what happened. I like how she describes family relationships, especially with her parents, in a tribal culture. In a very transparent way, she accurately describes the differences between private family life and the one that is portrayed publicly.

By Marjane Satrapi,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Persepolis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Wise, often funny, sometimes heart-breaking, Persepolis tells the story of Marjane Satrapi's life in Tehran from the ages of six to fourteen, growing up during the Iranian Revolution.

The intelligent and outspoken child of radical Marxists, and the great-grandaughter of Iran's last emperor, Satrapi bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life.

Amidst the tragedy, Marjane's child's eye view adds immediacy and humour, and her story of a childhood at once outrageous and ordinary,…


Book cover of Maman's Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen

Katy Motiey Why did I love this book?

Iranian food is the best food in the world. The author does a nice job describing her family’s move from Iran to the US and her accomplishments in the food business, becoming a chef, all the while honoring her mother.

She captures themes that are important to me, the Iranian Revolution, immigrating to the US, respect for your mother as well as food. What a perfect combination.

By Donia Bijan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Maman's Homesick Pie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A lavish taste of Persian culture and cuisine . . . [A] compelling, poignant and most delectable book."—BookPage

For Donia Bijan’s family, food has been the language they use to tell their stories and to communicate their love. In 1978, when the Islamic revolution in Iran threatened their safety, they fled to California’s Bay Area, where the familiar flavors of Bijan’s mother’s cooking formed a bridge to the life they left behind. Now, through the prism of food, award-winning chef Donia Bijan unwinds her own story, finding that at the heart of it all is her mother, whose love and…


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Book cover of Talland House

Talland House by Maggie Humm,

Royal Academy, London 1919: Lily has put her student days in St. Ives, Cornwall, behind her—a time when her substitute mother, Mrs. Ramsay, seemingly disliked Lily’s portrait of her and Louis Grier, her tutor, never seduced her as she hoped he would. In the years since, she’s been a suffragette…

Book cover of Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran

Katy Motiey Why did I love this book?

Growing up as an immigrant can be confusing and challenging, especially if you are Iranian-born and immigrated to the US during or before the Iranian Revolution. I personally enjoyed this book because I can relate to the challenges of being an Iranian American immigrant and the search for an identity,y which is a theme in this book.

I also like how transparent she is about the fact that all is not perfect with Iran or its culture, especially as she travels back to Iran as a journalist and witnesses the imperfection firsthand.

By Azadeh Moaveni,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lipstick Jihad as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As far back as she can remember, Azadeh Moaveni has felt at odds with her tangled identity as an Iranian-American. In suburban America, Azadeh lived in two worlds. At home, she was the daughter of the Iranian exile community, serving tea, clinging to tradition, and dreaming of Tehran. Outside, she was a California girl who practiced yoga and listened to Madonna. For years, she ignored the tense standoff between her two cultures. But college magnified the clash between Iran and America, and after graduating, she moved to Iran as a journalist. This is the story of her search for identity,…


Book cover of The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life

Katy Motiey Why did I love this book?

I love this book because, ultimately, it’s about the portrayal of a daughter revealing her mother’s lifelong secret. The author describes her mother’s struggles in Iran before the author was born. 

The book shows how secretive the Iranian culture can be and, the downsides and negative aspects of a patriarchal society, and the long-term damage it can cause.

By Jasmin Darznik,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Good Daughter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'With this one word, Lili had finally understood many things: that no matter what she promised or sacrificed or gave, she would always be 'broken' to her daughter.'

When Jasmin Darznik finds a photo among her father's possessions shortly after his death, she recognises the child in the veil and bride's clothes as her mother, Lili, but the groom is unfamiliar.

Who had her mother married all those years before? A few months later Lili sends Jasmin ten cassette tapes which reveal the secret history of their family: the true story of the abusive man she married, and the daughter…


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Book cover of Pride's Children: Purgatory

Pride's Children by Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt,

Pride’s Children is a captivating, contemporary story about love, regret, ambition, and obsession - with a glitzy backdrop. Closer examination reveals a textured and soul-searching novel that serves as a poignant reminder that we are defined by our choices - and their consequences. The treatment of an enigmatic and life-altering…

Book cover of Funny in Farsi

Katy Motiey Why did I love this book?

I love the transparency with which the author describes her family, immigrants who moved to Southern California in the 1970s.

At times, she mocks her family, but ultimately, it is endearing how she describes family love and how tradition can overcome everyday life for immigrants. By including her Uncle, she depicts how much, in the Iranian culture, an extended family can be involved in everyday life. She writes with a great deal of humor, making a heavy topic seem quite light.

By Firoozeh Dumas,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Funny in Farsi as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER • Finalist for the PEN/USA Award in Creative Nonfiction, the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and the Audie Award in Biography/Memoir

This Random House Reader’s Circle edition includes a reading group guide and a conversation between Firoozeh Dumas and Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner!

“Remarkable . . . told with wry humor shorn of sentimentality . . . In the end, what sticks with the reader is an exuberant immigrant embrace of America.”—San Francisco Chronicle

In 1972, when she was seven, Firoozeh Dumas and her family moved from Iran to Southern California, arriving with no…


Explore my book 😀

Imperfect: A Story about Loss, Courage, and Perseverance

By Katy Motiey,

Book cover of Imperfect: A Story about Loss, Courage, and Perseverance

What is my book about?

This is the story of one woman’s loss, courage, love, and perseverance before and during the Iranian Revolution. It is based on the experiences of my mother, Vida Shamsa. Her life took an unexpected and dramatic turn with the sudden death of her young husband in 1971.

Struggling against the patriarchal customs of Iran, she is faced with fighting her husband’s family for control of her children and her life. Never giving up fighting for her son and daughter, she challenges Iran’s legal and personal injustices against the backdrop of political unrest during the Shah’s regime, the rise of Khomeini, and the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. 

Book cover of Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Book cover of Maman's Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen
Book cover of Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran

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