She is the New York Times bestselling author of three books, The Bohemians, Song of a Captive Bird, a novel inspired by the life of Forugh Farrokhzad, Iran's celebrated poet, and The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life, which became a New York Times bestseller.

[6] Her first book, The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life was described by Kirkus reviews as "an eye-opening account that disturbs with its depiction of the place of women in Iranian society, but warms the heart in its portrayal of their gritty endurance.

Song of a Captive Bird (2018) is a fictional account about the trailblazing Iranian poet, Forugh Farrokhzad and The Bohemians (2021) imagines the life of a young Dorothea Lange in 1920s San Francisco.

She is now an associate professor and chair of the MFA in Writing program at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

[10] Her first book, The Good Daughter, was a finalist for the Library of Virginia's 2012 People's Choice Award[11] and was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize in Creative Nonfiction.