Newly published by Palmetto Publishing, Ascent traces an Iranian woman’s path from a childhood of silence and religious oppression to finding her voice in America.

CHARLESTON, S.C., Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Palmetto Publishing has released Ascent: A Courageous Quest from Silence to Freedom, a new memoir by Iranian-born author and entrepreneur Farzaneh. The book chronicles her life from a rural village in Iran through an abusive marriage, a move to the United States, and her eventual rise as a businesswoman and advocate against forced marriage.

The memoir opens in the attic of a childhood home in Iran, where a young girl raised in a Sufi household writes secret letters to God, questioning the patriarchal customs and religious strictures that govern every aspect of her life. Compassion and rigidity exist side by side in her family. Books become her sanctuary. Farzaneh recounts in specific, unflinching detail the loss of her brother in childhood, the weight of cultural expectations placed on girls, and the small acts of defiance that kept her spirit intact long before she ever imagined a life beyond the borders of her country.

The stakes of that defiance escalate sharply. Farzaneh survives an abusive marriage in which obedience is enforced as love. She faces the cultural challenges and quiet loneliness of starting over in a new country, navigating an unfamiliar society, while building a new sense of belonging.  As she builds a career in a male-dominated business world, she confronts new forms of resistance. Each chapter raises the same question: how much can one person endure and still choose openness over bitterness?

Farzaneh stated, “I wrote this book so that when someone finishes it, they feel more optimistic, more courageous in facing the issues in their own lives, and certain that it is never too late to rise, no matter their circumstances.”

Farzaneh, who holds a master’s degree and has authored several previous books, brings the credibility of lived experience to a genre that rewards honesty above all else. Her advocacy work against forced marriages and child brides gives the book an urgency that extends well beyond her own story.

Ascent is available for purchase online at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

About the Author: Farzaneh is an Iranian-born author, successful entrepreneur, and passionate advocate for the prevention of forced marriages and child brides. She holds a Master’s Degree and has authored several books, channeling her professional accomplishments and deeply personal experiences into work that champions resilience, compassion, and empowerment. Her voice carries the authority of someone who has not only witnessed systemic injustice but has overcome it.

Farzaneh’s writing journey is rooted in the attic of her childhood home in a rural Iranian village, where books became her sanctuary from a world defined by strict Islamic traditions and the undervaluation of women. Witnessing girls as young as thirteen forced into marriage ignited a rebellion in her that would shape the rest of her life. She left home at thirteen, fought to pursue her education against extraordinary odds, and eventually moved  to the United States. Her memoir, Ascent: A Courageous Quest from Silence to Freedom, traces this remarkable journey through abuse, displacement, and reinvention, offering readers an unflinching yet deeply hopeful account of what it means to build a life from the ground up.

Now based in the United States, Farzaneh brings the same tenacity to her advocacy work that carried her from a small village in Iran to entrepreneurial success in a new country. She writes to challenge assumptions, and to remind readers that courage and an open heart can coexist with pain. Her greatest hope is that her story inspires others never to give up, no matter their circumstances.

About the Book:

Title: Ascent
Author: Farzaneh

Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
ISBN-13: 9798318816765, 9798318816758, 9798318816772
Available for interviews: Author, Farzaneh https://www.farzanehb.com/ 

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SOURCE Palmetto Publishing