The Evin Prison Bakers' Club: Surviving Iran's Most Notorious Prisons in 16 Recipes

by Sepideh Gholian, Hessam Ashrafi (translator)

How do you cheer up a woman who has spent hours cleaning prison toilets with a broken mop? The secret is in a tres leches cake. In Iran’s prisons, women endure they are beaten, interrogated, and humiliated in a thousand ways. Even a whisper to a fellow inmate can be punished. Yet – in spite of anything and everything – they they bake. They console each other, cry together, dance together.

Sepideh Gholian, in prison since 2018, bakes scones for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter, a pumpkin pie for Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, madeleines for Marzieh Amiri, serving time for a May Day demonstration in 2019. The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club is a call to stand up for Woman, Life, Freedom by a woman still fighting for a free Iran.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Iran, Food, Biography Memoir, Adult

208 pages, Paperback

Published May 27, 2025

Reviews

[Priya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful book about finding hope and joy in the bleakest circumstances. Set in a women's prison in Iran, it portrays the horrible conditions the inmates have to live in, often without even committing a crime. These women have been jailed for protesting against the dictatorship and the regime, refusing to wear the compulsory hijab and basically anything the leadership considers a crime.

Amidst the torture they undergo at the hands of the guards and the attempts at forced confessions and having their children taken away from them in some cases, the women try to retain their sanity and sense of self that drove them to fight for independence in the first place. They do this by baking sweet treats that are specific to each of them, representing their most important qualities. Whether quick scones or oven free cookies or traditional Iranian desserts, the process of making these, singing songs and just spending time together lets them rise above their squalid circumstances and desperation.

I found it a very tough but inspirational read especially given the lack of an end date for the torture many of them are subjected to. That they can shore themselves and others by baking is such a wonderful idea to behold. It is a matter of survival but with such spirit that refuses to break down despite the worst kind of hardship.

The author has herself been incarcerated since 2018 so the voice is very authentic and the tale of how this book came about is quite interesting too. Throwing light upon a terrible reality and choosing to do it from this perspective is a very unique idea.

[Zinnia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot overstate the importance of this book.

[Anand Ganapathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most heart and gut wrenching books I read this year for my " Food in Indian literature" book club where we discuss food related books every month. This book is a first hand account of women interred in an Iranian prison for trivial and non existent crimes committed by them. they find camaraderie and support by baking /making Iranian Sweets together... this is a tale of hope against oppressive regimes across the world

[Maggie Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had I not read a half dozen books set in/around Afghanistan & India prisons I don't think I would have been able to get through this book of essays. But because I have I could picture these women, living out sentences that are not earned, in conditions inhumane, but still with a drive to find joy in the relationships they are building with one another despite their realities. I especially enjoyed the parts where they've added steps for dancing, and singing, or listening to a specific song into the recipe instructions.

[Jayasoorya K E · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Evin Prison Baker’s Club by Sepideh Gholian is a powerful memoir of a political prisoner that reminds us hope and joy can exist even in the darkest of places, sometimes through something as simple and comforting as baking.

Sepideh shares her harrowing experience inside brutal and notorious prison system, where she was held, transferred, and subjected to severe mistreatment. Amidst the hardship, she found moments of resistance and connection through baking for fellow inmates. Each recipe she shares is more than just a dessert, it carries emotional and cultural meaning, offering comfort in a place designed to break spirits.

This memoir is a uniquely beautiful and brave way to tell her story, blending activism with humanity. It’s also a call to stand in solidarity with the women who continue to fight for freedom. Sepideh’s courage during strikes and protests for economic and social justice is deeply inspiring. Her recognition as one of the most influential voices of our time is truly well deserved.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is important and I recommend you get a copy.

That said, it's not a 'great' book and you should perhaps be aware of its limitations.

The book was created from writing that seems to have been smuggled out of Evin prison - Teheran's notorious incarceration centre - in multiple parts. The editor who has pulled it together admits it's not entirely clear which bits go together or in what order it was intended to be read.

A lot of the content is very coded - the writer is (as far as I'm aware) still alive and in prison and consequently, there are things that can't be published for her safety.

If you are very knowledgeable about Iran and the regime's punishment of those who disagree with it, you may well recognise the names of the women in this book. If you've a more casual aquaintance with the topic, you'll probably know just a few - and if you're British, you'll recognise Nazanine Zagari Ratcliffe and her daughter Gabriella. For others, the names will get confusing - but the 'crimes' they've been locked up for will still resonate.

I've long had an aversion to books that mix cooking and biography - but I was willing to make an exception for this one because the making of sweet treats is so integral to the story.

I was also very moved by the poetry - they are a very poetic bunch of women, for sure.

I was moved and confused in almost equal measures. I hope the author will eventually gain her freedom, move somewhere safer, and then blow the lid off what's really going on in Iran's prisons.

[Aleyna Dogan]

TÜRKÇE’YE ÇEVRİLMİŞ HALİ 11 MART’TA NÂRA KİTAP TARAFINDAN YAYIMLANACAKTIR.

[Mousumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have an immensely huge sweet tooth. Rasgullas, tres leches, jalebi with rabri, strawberry tarts, anything sugary sends me calling heaven. And yet, this book brought me face to face with the actual sweetness of life: freedom.

Sepideh Gholian, the author, is currently imprisoned in Evin Prison, Tehran’s most notorious facility where truth-speakers are punished. Political prisoners, student leaders, activists, journalists, women who dared to exist too loudly, they all disappear behind its cold, iron gates. Through this book, Sepideh introduces us to the women she met inside, her cellmates and comrades, each reduced by the state, yet clinging to dignity, identity, and hope. And to each of them, she dedicates a dessert. Sixteen recipes. Sixteen women. Sixteen unspeakable losses. One is imprisoned for her husband’s alleged involvement in terrorism. Another is forced to self-abort in a dark, filthy bathroom just to save her mother and sister from “honour killing.” As you read on, what starts as recipes for tres leches or scones becomes a shrine. These are no longer desserts. They are memorials. Sugar and butter laced with grief.

The book is hauntingly surreal. The author's words carry defiance like oxygen, even as she recounts systematic torture, public humiliation, and psychological warfare. In a place designed to erase people, baking becomes a language of protest. Of memory. Of love. And here’s the most astounding part: Sepideh sent this book to the outside world in scraps - texts, photographs, pieces smuggled through layers of surveillance. Page by page, she defied a regime that thrives on silence. This is not just a memoir or a cookbook. It is a rebellion in prose, bound by recipes. Read it if you care about women. Read it if you care about freedom. And read it especially if you still believe desserts are just sweet.

[Kartik Chauhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable book that should be mandatorily read by everyone. Enduring inhuman violence, torture and humiliation in the prisons of Iran, women who have been imprisoned on mostly unfounded grounds/without evidence come together and find community and empathy—both forbidden sins in these prisons—in food and baking. So heartbreaking to read that this horrific reality coexists in our world and no international institution has the courage to intervene and protect the women of Iran, who have been fighting relentlessly for decades for their freedom from oppression.

[Norma Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* As a person living in a free and liberal country, this short book is an eye-opener on so many levels. Do not take freedom for granted. A remarkable book, especially how it came to be available in the free world!

[Sonja Mardanbeigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I've read many books about Iran and life in Evin and other prisons, this was a challenging read. I wish this was fiction.

[Prerna Shambhavee · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the depths of one of Iran’s most notorious political incarcerations, Evin Prison, a group of women discover ingenuity amid cruelty through the art of baking. Sepideh Gholian’s "The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club" is a literary work that demonstrates the boundless power of resolve spooned alongside creativity, sisterhood, and simple acts that blossom into rebellion.

The book serves as a monument articulating the simmering fury and power of baked goods alongside unshakeable determination. Inhaled during dispersed break intervals across cell blocks, daily baked goods drip in both defiance and humanity’s fragility. Food shape memories and through each weary bite, these women lap up soldier-like dignity.

“The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club” is an evocative account that captures the stories of women in the prisons of Iran and their immense courage and fortitude. This book stands out because of the mixture of recipes and stories. Readers across the globe shall be able to relate to its themes of hope, resistance, survival, and many more.Every recipe in this book holds the weight of survival.

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leitura mais que necessária.

[Renee Pelletier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, dreamy book. Cover does it a huge disservice.

[Neva Bowers Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club is one of the shortest and most heartbreaking things I’ve ever read. It’s the kind of book you finish in a single sitting and then carry with you for days, unsure how to return to your own life unchanged.

Reading it from America, and more specifically from the safety of my own small, comfortable bubble, was quietly disorienting. We become so consumed by minor inconveniences, by the small frictions of daily life, that we forget how radically different the stakes are elsewhere. This book doesn’t let you forget. It doesn’t shout or sensationalize; it simply tells the truth, and that truth is devastating.

What struck me most was the humanity threaded through unimaginable confinement. In a place designed to erase individuality and hope, something as simple as baking becomes an act of resistance, of dignity, of survival. The tenderness of these moments makes the surrounding cruelty even harder to bear.

This isn’t a book you “enjoy” in the traditional sense. It tears you apart quietly, deliberately, and without apology. But it feels necessary. It widens your perspective, humbles you, and reminds you how fragile and precious freedom truly is.

I don’t know how anyone reads this and walks away unchanged.

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

[4.5 stars]

Sepidah Gholian’s unusual memoir combines vignettes of fellow prisoners, letters, poems, songs, and, of course, recipes. It’s almost magic realism with the author describing a friend as an elephant, a mermaid, and a moving island. This unique approach marginally mitigates the horrific treatment of all the prisoners. I found the fact they’re given free rein in a kitchen astonishing, adding to the feeling of unreality.

I’m sure I would have valued this more had I better knowledge of Iranian history, culture, and language. I feel like this book deserves a 5 rating, but I didn’t appreciate it properly due to my ignorance. Because of my difficulty I gave it a 4.5, unfair to the book, I know.

As an update on the prison, I learned that it was bombed by Israel in June, 2025, less than two weeks after the author was released. The administration area and the hospital wing were targeted and many prisoners and employees were killed. By now, September 2025, the author has probably been imprisoned again.

[Bindu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I heard about memoirs I always find myself to inclined towards them. This happened when I heard about The Evin Prison Bakers' Club.

This book is a story of hope, rebellion and also make us believe that hope can be part of our lives even if we are going through the darkest times of our lives. Baking is not just making cookies, cakes, but this is a sign of Rebellion. How baking can act as a medium wherein prisoners can come together. Each recipy of the dessert does not only limit to the dessert but also a testament to shared, love, culture and affection towards the inmates.

This book is a unique portrayal in the way of memoir wherein the Sepideh story has been shared that how she has faced all injustice and still raised her voice.

This book is not just a memoir but a portrayal of hope against fear, support during odd circumstances. Also, a mirror about women of Iran and their solidarity.

[Courtney Knith · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the women in my family gather in the kitchen, we are almost always making something sweet. While doing so, we are sharing memories and plans and trying to make sure that we will all still like each other enough to come back to the kitchen again. It is a place of community, although in a much less significant sense than what we see in this book.

All of this to say that the structure of this novel was particularly effective for me, and if you are a woman who has found community in the kitchen, this book is for you.

I am thankful for the footnotes providing context as well as a starting point for further reading.

This is a difficult read, but it is also witty and beautiful and necessary.

[Allegra Drury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in a whirlwind two days of utter depression and surrealism, disgust and love for humanity in equal amounts. 

This book is confusing at points, almost speculative despite being nonfiction and i think this gives a feel of how utterly disorientating the lives of these women are.

 The subject matter is of the utmost depressing nature but Sepideh writes in a such a way she finds small amounts of hope and beauty within it.

It's informative but it doesn't go in to depth with histories, that's not what this book is for and it certainly left me wanting to learn more about Iran, the women mentioned and other stories. 

[HMG · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gut-wrenching read with an almost dreamlike quality although the topic and situation is so real. Most of all the bravery of the women held for standing up to the Iranian regime is awe-inspiring and the recipes are a brilliant emblem for that defiance. The author is still held in Evin prison. BTW, I got this book in Edinburgh at my favorite Bookshop, Topping and Company. I think it will be released here later this month. Do not miss it.

[Roch S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on a 28 degree day by the beach. Comfortable in my bikini and unbothered by anyone. It’s a dichotomy from the collection of stories of courageous women imprisoned in Evin prison. I hope to make some of their recipes, and think of these women who were defiant in the face of theocratic oppression.

My favourite chapters were Paulina Salas and Sharing dreams with Fatu. I feel melancholy but hopeful after reading this. Would recommend :)

[Megs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A moving piece on a very important topic. Admittedly I’m not too knowledgable on the Iranian conflict but rhis is a start! It did get confusing at points but the spirit and power of Gholian was certainly not lost on me and there were numerous really beautifully written parts.
‘Together, with faces burned by acid and bodies bruised by the lashes of belts, they’ll swarm out and over the wall to run, hold one another’s hands, and sing’.

[Cstaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started off very interesting, describing the conditions of the prison. But further into the book, it became hard to follow. Were the people being discussed real or imaginary? Were the conditions real or imaginary? The author went back and forth between the past and present and.... I finished the book but really don't recommend it as a good read.

[Essie Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hard book to rate. When reading this book, it tells the terrible stories of the abuse and trauma experienced by women in the Evan prison. It shares their bravery and resilience in the face of repeated persecution. It is not a light read, despite the beautiful cover. I found it a reprieve when getting to the recipes due to the nature of the experiences detailed within the book.

[Tammy Provost · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened my eyes to things I didn’t know were going on or not much about. The courage these women have and the fight. A must read and some other books like this. The book Sonita was also very eye opening.

[Leanne Prangnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this down. This book, in its translated form, is a combination of women's stories, recipes, and footnotes all shared within prison. This is a heartbreaking, eye opening, incredibly necessary read that shows corruption of systems and the significance of feminism.

[Paul Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual premise for writing a book about the cruel detention, victims of an oppressive and unjust regime. Persian baking certainly contains a lot of butter and sugar!

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devastating. Essential.