In the oil-rich Middle East of the 1950s and 60s the world viewed the opulent lifestyle of the Shah of Iran with envy. Few knew what lay beneath the surface in one of the richest countries on earth, poverty, hardship and exploitation, corruption at every level of government, a venal police force and a ruthless security service to ensure that the populace hailed a leader who neither understood nor cared about their difficulties. As a young girl I grew up in this world knowing abuse, violence and drug-dealing, and became a mother in a loveless marriage when aged only twelve. When I met the man I dreamt of, it seemed my life had been transformed. But he had secrets, secrets that would test our love to the limit, and ultimately threaten to destroy us both. The storm that I had foreseen would bring destruction. Could I find the strength to survive . . .