History is at its most fascinating when we peek behind the curtain so to speak, when we are offered a view of a road not travelled, a dead end, a 'what could have been'.

The life of Queen Soraya is one such 'What if?' What if she had stayed married? What if she had been able to keep her husband from the worst of his paranoia? What would the last decades of Iran been like? I'm not sure I completely buy the premise of the title - the Shah was a despot, he was doing things she didn't agree with and couldn't stop. Even with her at his side, history could have followed the same path. It certainly didn't help him.

Still, this is a partnership which had the Empresses of Iran touring Rome in a red polka dot dress.

This is an engaging book, from a writer that clearly respects Soraya and everything she tried to do. Reading through her life, she reminded me in many ways of Eva Peron, another popular wife propping up her husband. There are many differences of course, but if she resembled anyone in her lifestyle, if would have been her.

It is a little light however, so many moments are passed over with a single line or two, moments that were life changing - or ending. In some cases its partly because the evidence just isn't there, but it is frustrating, tantalizing, to tease a fact and then step back.

The author refers to Soraya's two biographies without any real push back, accepting almost everything she writes without question. In many cases, her books are the only surviving evidence of her life and the events within, but her own basis are never considered.

Still, there was a very interesting read, about a period I knew very little about. Soraya deserves to be remembered more.

This book is a mix of Iranian history -- from the 1950s -- and a sketched out biography of Soraya, Queen of Iran as it draws both from Soraya's own memoirs and other sources. The book is well written, and the author's voice is almost entirely absent as they lay out the timeline of Soraya's life, from her childhood to her death.

However, it's also a very ... monotone book, and I don't really know what it's trying to say. While it's interesting (especially given the current political climate in Iran) to read a book about Iran's difficulties in the early days of the oil boom, the book doesn't really focus on the history. It also doesn't really focus on Soraya.

I'm sorry, but I'm left a little flat by the book. I feel like I read something for a history class that gave me the outline of events but never got me close enough to feel anything for the people involved. However, I don't often read biographies, so the discordance could well be mine.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the book.