Sunday book pick: The sex lives of Iranian housewives in Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Embroideries’

Marjane Satrapi’s blockbuster autobiographical graphic novels Persepolis One and Two took the world by storm for their fearless – and irreverent – portrayal of Islamic rule in her motherland of Iran. In these two graphic novels, we follow Satrapi’s growing up years in Iran, the brutal regime of the Shah and her family’s resistance to it, and their subsequent migration to Europe. Satrapi holds French citizenship at present, and, besides writing, also directs movies. The film adaptation of Persepolis (directed by Satrapi) is a richly decorated movie that received tremendous attention at the Oscars, Cannes, Golden Globe, and César Awards.

Marjane, the girl character of Persepolis, returns in Satrapi’s book Embroideries, whose English translation was published in 2008. However, here she is not the central character. Surrounded by a flock of women of varying ages and social positions, she observes them and offers occasional quips as they talk about their marriages and sex lives.

Ventilation of the heart

The book opens with a lunch party where the women have gathered with their husbands. Once the eating is done, the men take their teas and retire for a siesta while the women get busy clearing up the table. Marjane’s grandmother who addresses her husband as “Satrapi” because “no woman should respect her husband” orders her...

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