With the holiday of Purim coming up, that takes place in Persia, we commemorate evil turning around to good. How apropos that today we have the pleasure of speaking with Esther Amini who grew up in a Persian-Jewish household. Esther wrote a heart wrenching memoir titled Concealed where the reader can see that even though one can physically escape religious persecution, emotionally they can still be in that same place, and in essence the past is never dead.
Concealed speaks not only to Iranians and their first-generation
American children, but to every immigrant and descendant who feels that complicated push-pull of their legacy, honoring traditional customs vs. breaking the mold and fighting oppression. Concealed has received international praise!
In addition to giving us a brief summary of the book, and the fascinating reason she felt compelled to author it, she explains why she chose Concealed as the title, since it has multiple meanings.
Esther also discusses what it was like growing up in the
free world as the daughter of Jewish Iranian parents who suffered persecution, and she read a passage from her book that illustrates her point that silence in her home was expected, and how she dealt with it. Esther then goes into detail about life in Mashdad today as opposed to her parents’ days.