Mayada: Daughter Of Iraq
Mar 2012 · Random House
4.5star
13 reviewsreport
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432
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About this ebook
Mayada was born into a powerful Iraqi family. One grandfather fought alongside Lawrence of Arabia. The other is acclaimed as the first true Arab nationalist. Her uncle was Prime Minister for nearly forty years, her mother an important politician. When Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath party seized power, and instituted his reign of terror, Mayada found herself alone in Baghdad, a divorced parent of two children, earning a meagre living printing brochures. Until one morning in August 1999 she was summarily arrested and dragged to the notorious Baladiyat Prison, falsely accused of printing anti-government propaganda.
There she was thrown into a cell with 17 'shadow women'. Like latter-day Sherezades, these women passed their days, while waiting for the next interrogation and torture session, telling each other their stories. They were eager to hear Mayada's stories of her privileged former life, of the history of her proud family, of kings and queens, of meetings with Saddam himself.
Not only the story of a woman intimately connected to Iraq's cultured, ancient history, this book is a powerful witness to the terror and horror wrought by Saddam on the lives and souls of its ordinary citizens.
There she was thrown into a cell with 17 'shadow women'. Like latter-day Sherezades, these women passed their days, while waiting for the next interrogation and torture session, telling each other their stories. They were eager to hear Mayada's stories of her privileged former life, of the history of her proud family, of kings and queens, of meetings with Saddam himself.
Not only the story of a woman intimately connected to Iraq's cultured, ancient history, this book is a powerful witness to the terror and horror wrought by Saddam on the lives and souls of its ordinary citizens.
Ratings and reviews
4.5
13 reviews
Tinthia
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January 7, 2014
The princess series were a better read personally. This was still pretty good none the less, although proof reading might prove worth while as there are a lot of errors in the book which puts me off a bit.
2 people found this review helpful
A Google user
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February 25, 2018
Could not put down for hours with here every step of her journey. I wish the best to future for all women of world. Recommend this book for women & men to read.
2 people found this review helpful
A Google user
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August 25, 2012
I loved this book it is amazingly written. It makes me feel sad but it gives you a felling of iraq its worth buying
About the author
Jean Sasson grew up in a small town in America's deep south before moving to the Middle East in 1978 to work at a prestigious royal hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In 1985, she met Princess Sultana, who inspired the widely acclaimed Princess Trilogy. Jean later worked as freelance writer in Lebanon and Kuwait, conducting interviews with Kuwaitis who survived the first Gulf war, as well as high ranking Kuwaiti officials before, during and after the War. Her affection for the Middle East has been the motivation for a number of her books and Jean has spent her career sharing the personal stories of many courageous women. Princess: Stepping Out Of The Shadows is the latest book in the bestselling Princess series.
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