Fariba Hachtroudi decided to leave her home country following the Iranian Revolution in 1979. After relocating to Sri Lanka in 1981, she taught at the University of Colombo for two years and studied Teravada Buddhism. Hachtroudi then pursued journalism and eventually went on to write a full-length non-fiction account about her revisit to Iran after 30 years in exile called The Twelfth Imam’s a Woman? In addition to writing, Hachtroudi also leads a foundation that advocates for women’s rights, education, and secularism.
Iran
Fariba Hachtroudi
All Fariba Hachtroudi's books
Upcoming events
London
May 9, 06:45pm
May 9, 06:45pm
Translated by Alison Anderson, The Man Who Snapped His Fingers by Fariba Hachtroudi is a novel of ideas that explores the crushing effects of totalitarianism and the infinite power of love.
Latest reviews
![]()
This prizewinning Iranian-French author tells a gritty and arresting tale of a woman held in a military prison in an unnamed theological republic who is brutally tortured but refuses to give up the man she loves. She is spared a dehumanizing end only when a high-ranking colonel...— Star Tribune, Aug 30 2016![]()
It is Hachtoudi’s ability to engage with her characters, the roles they are assigned by history, and how much power they have to reject them that makes this a gripping examination of totalitarianism’s perpetrators and victims.— 1streading's blog, May 13 2016![]()
The Man Who Snapped His Fingers tells the story of a colonel from the inner circle of the Iranian supreme commander who now lives in another country and an interpreter at its Office for Refugees and Stateless Persons who interprets for him. This is how the two meet at the beginning...— World Literature Today, May 9 2016![]()
THE MAN WHO SNAPPED HIS FINGERS has won the Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) GOLD MEDAL in Military/Wartime Fiction— Independent Publisher, Apr 11 2016![]()
Two exiled citizens of the totalitarian “Theological Republic” meet somewhere in northern Europe—one a former colonel to the “Supreme Commander,” the other a former prisoner known for having refused to name names. Now the shoe is on the other foot, and it’s the ex-prisoner...— Motto Time, Mar 8 2016![]()
This is one of those books that will stay with me and that I will think about for a long time to come. [...] I think that this will make my list of favorite books of the year.— The Book Binder’s Daughter, Feb 28 2016![]()
…this is a book about words and storytelling, and the power they have to free, enslave and condemn.— A year of reading the world, Feb 23 2016![]()
Europa Editions continues to bring high-quality world literature to the United States, now with The Man Who Snapped His Fingers by Fariba Hachtroudi, a French-Iranian author who left Iran after the 1979 revolution. Hachtroudi's book, winner of the 2001 French Human Rights Prize,...— Shelf Awareness, Feb 16 2016![]()
…a profound, exquisitely crafted novella about life under a merciless regime, about torture and resilience, truth and culpability and the triumph of love over fear.— The Independent, Feb 10 2016![]()
The "Theological Republic" stands in for the author's homeland of Iran in a novel that seamlessly combines elements of a political thriller with a tale of love destroyed by circumstance.— Oprah.com, Feb 2 2016![]()
Tightly plotted, this fierce literary thriller packs complex emotions in a small space, tackling difficult and essential questions about power and our responsibilities to one another.— Kirkus Reviews, Feb 2 2016![]()
The Man Who Snapped His Fingers by Fariba Hachtroudi (Translated by Alison Anderson) Publish Date ~ February 2nd 2016 The Man Who Snapped His Fingers is the debut novel in English by French-Iranian author Fariba Hachtroudi, winner of the 2001 French Human Rights...— Desi Blitz, Jan 6 2016![]()
A famous prisoner and a colonel meet years later in a faraway land. An outlandish and ambiguous relationship develops between them shared by their dark and violent past.— Desi Blitz, Jan 4 2016![]()
A novel of ideas, exploring power and memory by an important female writer from a part of the world where female voices are routinely silenced.’— Poppy Peacock Pens, Dec 1 2015
Iran
