'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 she was forced to leave behind.

This is an unforgettable story of secrets, betrayal and exile, and of an unshakeable mother-daughter bond.

Born in Tehran to an Iranian mother and German father, Jasmin Darznik is an award-winning writer whose essays, short stories, and book reviews have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Women's Review of Books and other publications.Her writing is shaped by her experience as a former attorney specializing in immigration and family law as well as her current scholarship in Iranian-American literature. A doctoral candidate in English Literature at Princeton University, she has been the recipient of a University Fellowship, and has written extensively on literature by Middle Eastern women in exile.