A passionate encounter in a foreign culture, which reveals a cheerful, exotic face and lively creativity behind the backs of strict guardians of customs and traditions. “The observations are very true to life, and very sensitive, the language is beautiful, the book suspenseful without being hectic, and the reader’s curiosity grows with every sentence.” Bahman Nirumand, writer and expert on Iran.

“May your hands never feel pain” is one of the many sayings used by Iranians to express their gratitude and respect for others. And this is also what they do in countless rites, including during their encounters with Europeans traveling solo through the country.

These lone travelers have become rare since the country submitted itself to the laws of Islamic fundamentalism, which demand that female foreign visitors cover their hair and completely cover their bodies. Who is this young woman from Hamburg, who goes through one adventure after another in the land of the mullahs as if it were the most normal thing in the world? And who is able, as the narrator, to win her reader’s heart from the very first page, to make her readers into her allies? She is able to make them hold their breath when a there is a heavy knock on her hotel door while she is sharing her bed with her lover Kurosh, a serious crime in this country.