Customer Reviews

Fatwa: Living with a Death Threat

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The minute I picked this book up I was hooked! I stayed up late into the night reading and would have stayed up all night if I didn't have kids to get up for school. This is one of the best books I have read in a while.

In the begining I was a little judgmental toward Jacky's decisions. She married someone she hardly knows, left behind everything familiar to her, and went to live in a culture she knew nothing about. After a while though I began to understand why she had agreed to marry him. I could understand her not wanting to live her life asking, "what if"?

This is a really good book that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat with your eyes flying across the page to see how Jacky will overcome all the obstacles and make it out of Egypt with both of her daughters.

Jacky's harrowing escape from an abusive husband reads like a brilliant novel but what is terrifying is that the story is true, a young woman trapped in Egypt who spends 12 months saving $50 in secret, who acquires a passport from a sympathetic ambassador and finally makes a dash across the desert to Israel with her 2 young daugters - only to have the Imam of Cairo to put a Fatwa on her. This story of human courage is what they all a page turner and I for one could not put it down.

This book is a quick read but it is entirely horrifying. I am appalled that women so often seem to get short shrift, whatever the code of ethics society approves--in the name of whatever God. I guess I'd better not say more because this book made me angry.

I found this book to be compelling and thought provoking. I began to empathise with Jacky from the start as she guides the reader through the events that led her to be caught up in such a serious situation. I also read Betty Mahmoody's `Not Without My Daughter' (as mentioned in other reviews). The events leading to the two women being trapped in abusive relationships in foreign countries and cultures are very different. I thought that it was brave and honest of Jacky to acknowledge that she was at times, innocent and naïve... As the story develops, and she becomes a mother, we see her character and sense of self become stronger. To observe this transition during such a difficult time is very moving.

I think that she shares a very real caution to others who could find themselves in a similar situation.

This is one of the most powerful and moving books I have ever read and cannot recommend it enough. Brave Jacky spends a year saving $50 and escapes across the desert from her bullying Egyptian husband with her two little girls. She finds her name on a Fatwa death list and goes into hiding, living in fear of the telephone ringing, the knock on the door, the look in stranger's eyes. Very powerful. A must read.

I could not put this book down!! Now I remember why I enjoy reading this type of memoir. The downgrading and abuse of women in Muslim countries, all due to religion, really makes my blood boil!! NO ONE has the right to treat another human being in such a manner I DON'T care who you are OR who you think you are!! This woman has to be one of the bravest women I've ever read about. Knowing that she must live the rest of her life looking over her shoulder due to this monster and his abuse of his religion really saddens me. I hope if he ever shows up in the U.K. that they make an example of him! This was one of the best books of this genre I've ever read.

A fantasic read, had me in tears at times. so well written, poor jackie went through so much . As a woman, its hard not to empathise, and hope that love will conquer all