Sweeping aside your preconceptions of a city can be challenging, but Ramita Navai invites readers to do just that – if we didn’t expect to find porn, plastic surgery and meth addicts in smog-choked Tehran, the British–Iranian journalist causes us to think again.

Navai began volunteering in South Tehran’s toughest neighbourhoods in 2004, and it was here that she met some of the people who became her inspiration for City of Lies. Using Valiasr Street as its nexus, the narrative snakes from seedy southern backstreets to Tehran’s wealthy northern suburbs. City of Lies is a work of creative non-fiction, pushing the boundaries of the genre in its imaginative reconstruction of its subjects’ lives. Individual stories have been melded and morphed in order to protect the identities of those concerned – it seems that truth is a slippery and dangerous business in Tehran.

Lying in Tehran is, according to Navai, a question of survival. Of the lives she explores – gangster, socialite, blogger, assassin, teen militia, porn star and housewife – the challenges of living within an oppressive regime are immense. Regardless of wealth, class or religion, there’s always a need to hide one’s true self.

Although set in the present day, each story hinges around the Islamic revolution of 1979. Acts of transgression feature strongly, muddying the distinction between personal and political resistance, be it divorce, gender reassignment or attending a life-drawing class. Navai’s reportage peppers the narrative, though in parts this breaks the spell of the powerful stories she gives voice to. Despite this, City of Lies remains a compelling portrait of contemporary life in a city of extreme contrasts, highlighting the importance of love, kindness and community in the shadow of brutality and hardship. From a city of 12 million Tehranis, this is a fascinating snapshot, both shocking and tender, of a complex and irrepressibly vibrant city.

Sally Keighery is a freelance reviewer.