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karenleagermain's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very upsetting book to read, not that I expected it to be light reading...I think the hardest part was how arbitrary punishment was doled out. I cannot imagine living in a society where I would have to be constantly fearful of my life. The letter at the end of the book was even sadder. It was hard to read it and not know what happened to the rest of the shadow women.
scarlet_thomas's review against another edition
5.0
I have a huge heart for Middle Eastern women and love to hear their personal stories. For this reason, my favorite book this month is Mayada: Daughter of Iraq by Jean Sasson. This is the true account of an Iraqi woman who was thrown in a prison cell with 17 other women from all walks of life. While they were all under constant threat of torture, they passed the time by sharing their stories. This book also contains the fascinating history of The Cradle of Civilization up until the demise of Saddam Hussein, whose regime meted out cruelty and hardship on generations of Iraqis. Mayada and her shadow women will be with me for a long time.
rayyan3's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly, I expected more from this book.
I was expecting to read a memoir but a lot of it reads more like a history textbook. I was more interested in the story of Mayada, which the book claims to be about, but a good 75% of the book was just the history of Iraq and the Ottoman empire. Pages upon pages of painstaking details and just story upon story of Mayada's aristocratic privileged life as the daughter of so and so and the grandaughter of so and so and the descendent of.... It was honestly just difficult to get through a lot of it.
The parts about the shadow women in cell 52 and the time she spent in prison were well written and also difficult to read (but for an entirely different reason).
By the time I got about halfway I found that I was actually forcing myself to finish it because I wanted to know how she ended up getting out.
I was expecting to read a memoir but a lot of it reads more like a history textbook. I was more interested in the story of Mayada, which the book claims to be about, but a good 75% of the book was just the history of Iraq and the Ottoman empire. Pages upon pages of painstaking details and just story upon story of Mayada's aristocratic privileged life as the daughter of so and so and the grandaughter of so and so and the descendent of.... It was honestly just difficult to get through a lot of it.
The parts about the shadow women in cell 52 and the time she spent in prison were well written and also difficult to read (but for an entirely different reason).
By the time I got about halfway I found that I was actually forcing myself to finish it because I wanted to know how she ended up getting out.
elalaxxx's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.25
a lot of the history of arab politics and a good insight into what it was like for the people back then
suzanne_between_pages's review against another edition
4.0
Mijn gevoel bij het boek is een beetje dubbel. Het was zeker niet zoals ik van de schrijfster Jean Sasson gewend ben. Veel meer details, waardoor ik met name de stukken over de politieke context doorgebladerd heb. De martelingen en omstandigheden in de gevangenis werden met evenveel precisie en details beschreven. Hier kon ik ook niet altijd door blijven lezen, maar dan om de reden dat ik me besefte dat dit geen crimethriller is, maar een waargebeurd verhaal. Geen woorden voor...
Het is een boek dat zeker indruk op me gemaakt heeft. De veerkracht van Mayada en de schaduwvrouwen was bewonderenswaardig en hun zorgzaamheid voor elkaar maakte dat in mijn mensbeeld nog een klein beetje positiviteit doorschemerde tijdens het lezen van dit boek.
Het is een boek dat zeker indruk op me gemaakt heeft. De veerkracht van Mayada en de schaduwvrouwen was bewonderenswaardig en hun zorgzaamheid voor elkaar maakte dat in mijn mensbeeld nog een klein beetje positiviteit doorschemerde tijdens het lezen van dit boek.
xxstefaniereadsxx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Mayada came from a very distinguished Iraqi family. Unfortunately for her, because of her familial ties and likely also because she was a female, she was thrown into prison when Saddam Hussein came to power. A lot of the people he had thrown in prisons were on the other end of the political spectrum, or those he felt would fight against his dictatorship. She was incarcerated with several other women from various walks of life, incarcerated for various reasons. Most of their stories that were mentioned in the book were the same. They were held at the Baladiyat Prison in Baghdad, Iraq. Inside this prison, unspeakable horrors and tortures took place. Prisoners (both men and women as it would later come out) were subjected to rape and sexual assault with various objects, beaten, suffocated, electrocuted, and many other things. This book doesn't go into as much detail as some of the news articles that I read when I googled this prison to see what it looked like, but whatever you can imagine, it probably happened.
I was on a Jean Sasson kick, and found all of her books at my bookstore. I didn't really read what this particular book was about, but I liked her other works, so I figured I may as well read this one too. I will say that while it does talk about torture and experiences in the prison, it was not the most explicit book I had read in that respect. I cannot imagine being imprisoned in my own country, certainly not a foreign one, and absolutely not in one under a dictator as ruthless as Saddam was. This was a very moving story, and really gave me a better perspective on what women in the Middle East endure/endured and what life was like living under Saddam
I was on a Jean Sasson kick, and found all of her books at my bookstore. I didn't really read what this particular book was about, but I liked her other works, so I figured I may as well read this one too. I will say that while it does talk about torture and experiences in the prison, it was not the most explicit book I had read in that respect. I cannot imagine being imprisoned in my own country, certainly not a foreign one, and absolutely not in one under a dictator as ruthless as Saddam was. This was a very moving story, and really gave me a better perspective on what women in the Middle East endure/endured and what life was like living under Saddam
elsiebrady's review against another edition
4.0
Well written. Unbelievable. Reminds me of Auschwitz, can't believe this still happens. First time I thought maybe something good came from the war with Iraq.