Memoirs for International Women’s Day

Khalida Brohi grew up living in a remote tribe in rural Pakistan. Her tribe believed in arranged marriages and strict family structures, but her father was determined she would not be married off as a child. In her teens, Brohi learned that a beloved cousin had been murdered as part of a tradition known as honor killing. This inspired Brohi to become an activist working to end this custom by empowering women and educating men around the world.

This beautiful illustrated memoir tells the story of one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam to the United States in the 1970s. Thi Bui started to learn more about her parent’s experience when she was a graduate student doing oral history interviews with her parents. Those stories, along with her own experiences as a young mother, anchor the book, while also touching on themes like sacrifice, rebuilding, and the experience of refugees. It’s beautifully done!

This memoir is about Azar Nafisi’s experiences as a professor in Iran during and after the Iranian revolution. For two years in the 1990s, Nafisi hosted a book club for some of her most dedicated students where they read Western classics that had been banned in Iran. This is a bit older, but it’s still one of my favorite books to recommend because of the ways it shows life in Iran and the lessons we can all take from literature.

In December 2004, Sonali Deraniyagala, her husband, her sons, and her parents, were vacationing in Sri Lanka. When a tsunami hit their resort, everyone but Deraniyagala was killed. This memoir is about how she lost her family and how she grapples with that shattering loss afterwards. It’s also the story of her family, filled with beautiful moments from her childhood, marriage, and motherhood. This book is both deeply sad and a very moving meditation on grief and what comes after unimaginable loss.