Against All Odds; A Memoir

Two young people from vastly different countries manage to forge a relationship and successful marriage despite the huge differences of language and culture between England and Iran in the early 1950s. An Iranian employee of the Anglo Iranian Oil Company is sent to England for a 2 year course, and meets a student nurse. They inform the London Office of their plan to marry, but the manager tries to break up this unconventional relationship. Meanwhile, on-going negotiations between UK and Iran over the ownership of the Oil Industry in Iran finally fail; the Iranian Parliament approves the Nationalisation of the industry, renaming it the National Iranian Oil Company. Diplomatic relations between the two countries are severed, Iranian students are recalled, Reza returns to Iran. The couple keep their relationship alive, and eventually marry by proxy. In 1952, Ishbel leaves rainy Manchester for Iran and spends 25 happy years there with Reza and their growing family, juggling her attachments to Iran and England 1979 - The Islamic Revolution. The couple's move to UK not yet completed, Reza is in Iran, and his family are in England. He escapes, and now must adapt to a life of exile. A story of conquest over adversity of every kind, and an inspirational tale of how two people can take on the world – and win!! Danny Curran Sept. 2016