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Thursday, July 3, 2008

Currently Reading... Love in a Torn Land

Currently reading a book entitled "Love in a Torn Land" by Jean Sasson.

This book is a true story about a girl named Joanna. Let me tell you a little about her story. Joanna is half Kurd, half Arab. Her father is an Arab. Her mother is a Kurd. She was born and grew up in Baghdad. In Baghdad, Kurds are hated. She had two brothers, Sa'ad and Ra'ad. Ra'ad managed to escape to Europe.

Joanna fell in a love with a guy name Sarbast. Sarbast was a peshmerga. Peshmerga stands for Kurdish fighters, fighting for the freedom of Kurdistan from the power of Iraq.

She left Baghdad to be married. But Joanna's marriage was an usual one. The groom did not attend the wedding. After the wedding, she headed off to the mountains of Iraq to join her groom and be a peshmerga wife.

One day, Saddam Hussein ordered his cousin "Chemical Ali" to bombard Joanna's village, Bergalou, with chemical weapons. She was blinded by that attack. After being caught in another bombardment, they left and tried to flee over the mountains. They crossed the Kandil mountain with the help of Crazy Hassan. Crazy Hassan was the bravest smuggler. They had to watch out for the jahsh. The jahsh were Kurdish informers working for the Iraqi government.

After giving birth to her first son, they managed to escape to UK and settle there.

This is indeed a good book. I think people who are interested in human rights should read this book. I give this book a 9.5/10 rating.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for your comments about LOVE IN A TORN LAND, Daniel. I'm so pleased that you enjoyed this very beautiful and true story. You might like to know that I am the author of the book and I am very attached to my heroines. I hope you get to read more of my books. You would probably like: PRINCESS: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, and MAYAYA, DAUGHTER OF IRAQ, as well. It's important for the world to know the truth of life for people who are not of their culture. For now, have a wonderful summer! Jean Sasson

Unknown said...

SORRY THAT I MADE A TYPO: THE BOOK I MENTIONED IS SPELLED:

MAYADA, DAUGHTER OF IRAQ

CHERIO! JEAN

Daniel Ting said...

Shall find the book and read it...