Named a âBest Book of the Yearâ by New York Post
âFarida Khalafâs story is harrowing but crucialâespecially when it comes to understanding what ISIS actually is and does.â âGlamour
âAs gripping as it is appallingâŚa compelling testament to the suffering of ordinary people caught up in violence far beyond their controlâand to the particularly terrible price it exacts from women.â âThe Guardian
A young Yazidi woman was living a normal, sheltered life in northern Iraq during the summer of 2014 when her entire world was upended: her village was attacked by ISIS. All of the men in her town were killed and the women were taken into slavery.
This is Farida Khalafâs story.
In unprecedented detail, Farida describes her world as it wasâat nineteen, she was living at home with her brothers and parents, finishing her schooling and looking forward to becoming a math teacherâand the hell it became. Held in a slave market in Syria and sold into the homes of several ISIS soldiers, she stubbornly attempts resistance at every turn. Farida is ultimately brought to an ISIS training camp in the middle of the desert, where she plots an against-all-odds escape for herself and five other girls.
A riveting firsthand account of life in captivity and a courageous flight to freedom, this astonishing memoir is also Faridaâs way of bearing witness, and of ensuring that ISIS does not succeed in crushing her spirit. Her bravery, resilience, and hope in the face of unimaginable violence will fascinate and inspire.