Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She grew up in Tehran, where she studied at the French school, before leaving for Vienna and then Strasbourg to study illustration. She has written several children's books and her commentary and illustrations appear in newspapers and magazines around the world, including The New Yorker and The New York Times. She is the author of the internationally bestselling and award-winning comic book autobiography in two parts, Persepolis and Persepolis 2, and Embroideries. She currently lives in Paris.

In November 1955, Nasser Ali Khan, one of Iran's most celebrated tar players, is in search of a new instrument.