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The Immigrants' Daughter: A Private Battle to Earn the Right to Self-actualization

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This book, about the daughter of Armenian immigrants who escaped genocide in Turkey and resettled in Egypt, is about the adversity that the author dealt with in her own household after the death of her mother when she was still a child. Well written and easy to read, the book is written from her perspective as a child growing up in a household in Cairo, Egypt at a time when Egypt, in the 1940s was going through many socio-political changes, from the pleasant days of a cosmopolitan, diverse society heavily influenced by England, through World War II, and the transfer from a monarchy to a Republic, in which indigenous Arabs began exerting their influence in all spheres of life.

Ms. Terzian has a great ability to distill an entire span of some twenty years into numerous vignettes and episodes that powerfully convey her desire to become educated and to overcome stereotypical notions about the role of a woman in society and in the household. The lack of love and appreciation for her accomplishments by her stepmother and father merely serve to strenghten her resolve to break from the shackles of convention and limited expectations. At the same time, she puts in perspective what it feels like to be a member of a people -- the Armenians -- who are displaced from their historic homeland and are forced to make adjustments in what was then a polyglot of cultures in Cairo, Egypt.

Ultimately, it is a story of personal triumph, if not reconciliation, as Ms. Terzian describes her journey as a United Nations employee, utilizing her French and English skills in such far-flung places as the Congo and Togo. It's an easy read, and not without its humourous moments, like when her father argues with the Mother Superior at her religious secondary school, and she is asked to translate for both of them; or when she describes her efforts to learn English and the unique quirks of the language that bedevil her. In reading this book, one would not come away with the impression that English is a second language for the author, who immigrated to the U.S. as a twenty something.

This is the moving dramatic story of the early life of Mary Terzian. It is told in a first person voice. The story progresses from Mary's birth and preschool through to her young adulthood. Mary Terzian spent her childhood in a community of immigrants in the city of Cairo. These people have been traumatized by genocide and deportation from Historical Armenia under Ottoman rule. This inquisitive young girl's questions go unanswered. She does not understand the "why" behind the disparity in gender roles, the importance of tradition, religious superstitions, and cultural issues.

Mary's mother instills in her the importance of getting an education, while her father presses traditional expectations of women and domesticity. At age ten, Mary's mother dies. Home life becomes unbearable. After the death of her mother she writes: "I hide Mama's absence like an ugly abscess because not having a mother is embarrassing. Everybody has one. I feel like I am being punished."

After only four months her father chooses a new wife, a stepmother to take over the household duties and child rearing. "Stepmother" has other plans for the marriage. She shows no love for the children. Mary is made to assume many of the household tasks and childcare responsibilities for her younger brother. In a backdrop of World War II Mary struggles for an identity. She drives herself to excel in school. Books become her escape. At one point she describes herself as "emotionally homeless."

The story moves quickly through the years that follow, however, the author expresses it this way: "The evolution from an affable, dependent, defensive young girl to a self-supporting, confident, decisive woman is a long, rough, and trying journey."

I found myself not wanting to miss a single word of this journey. The author has a unique way of using tongue in cheek humor to lighten the impact of hopelessness. Terzian is a talented writer with a wealth of experience to share. I hope she is working on a sequel to this captivating, heartwarming, and unforgettable book.

In The Immigrant's Daughter, Mary Terzian has crafted a page turning account of her experience growing up in Cairo in a family that considers losing their ties to the Armenian "Motherland" a betrayal of their forefathers' massacre. Vividly told, with amazing recall, Terzian makes a peaceful, pre-war era come alive, from the sights and smells of the marketplace, right down to the buttons on her school uniform. You feel her anguish at the loss of her mother at a young age, her fear during World War II air raids, and the pressure to excel as a student while enduring the scorn of her father over wasting money on a girl's education. Sheer determination, grit and resolve are underlaid with aching vulnerability and leavened with humor. Once you pick this book up, you won't want to put it down.

This award winning book, "The Immigrant's Daughter," by Mary Terzian, is a literary achievement in more than one dimension. Her personal experience of growing up in Cairo, Egypt, in a family that was deported from its ancestral Armenian homeland, is most captivating and heartwarming. The emotional stress and psychological turbulences, caused by constrictive family traditions, in a young girl who is striving for respect and identity, are presented with eloquence draped in simplicity. Mary's style and language, often seasoned with subtle humor, are the manifestations of her professionalism and creativity.

The impact of "The Immigrant's Daughter" goes beyond the Armenian-Egyptian bi-cultural environment. The ongoing industrial and economic globalization is creating multicultural societies across the continents. Millions from third world countries or rural areas are moving to more industrialized cities or countries. Consequently the adaptation of old traditions and cultures with prevailing conditions creates internal strife in families. Inevitably children are caught between these conflict-filled circumstances, facing individual challenges. These children and subsequent generations could certainly benefit from Mary Terzian's real-life experiences by reading the loud message in her book: uncompromising pursuit of education, motivation, perseverance, and adaptation of traditional moral values in a new milieu.

Growing up in your own country is difficult enough, but as an immigrant always in transit has to be a burden most of us will never have to bear. Mary's journey is a triumph over culture and family tradition. In Cairo when King Farouk and Queen Farida have a daughter the celebration is subdued. A boy would have brought jubilation and five pounds to every family - the girl produces two. Mary talks to her mother and figures it out. Girls are worth less, but that doesn't break Mary's spirit. She's bright and intelligent enough to see through the double standard. And in her school, work and travels she manages to stays ahead of the game with a genteel wit and disarming humor that always rubs the right way.
Tom Barnes author of `Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone,' `The Goring Collection.' `The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.'

Growing up in your own country is difficult enough, but as an immigrant always in transit has to be a burden most of us will never have to bear. Mary's journey is a triumph over culture and family tradition. In Cairo when King Farouk and Queen Farida have a daughter the celebration is subdued. A boy would have brought jubilation and five pounds to every family - the girl produces two. Mary talks to her mother and figures it out. Girls are worth less, but that doesn't break Mary's spirit. She's bright and intelligent enough to see through the double standard. And in her school, work and travels she manages to stays ahead of the game with a genteel wit and disarming humor that always rubs the right way.

Tom Barnes Author "Doc Holliday's Road to Tombatone."

Mary Terzian's "The Immigrant's Daughter" is a deeply satisfying memoir. Her Armenian parents having fled Turkey and settled in Egypt, she was born in Cairo in the mid-30s. Her story is told against the background of this unique city, from the mid-30s through the 1950s. It covers Egypt durring the Second World War, the Egyptian unrest, and the Egyptian revolution. However, it is first and foremost, the struggle of a sensitive and gifted young woman to realize her intellectual potential against many difficult odds. The book is, at the same time, amusing, interesting, and inspiring.

I received this book as a gift and loved it. Myself an immigrant's daughter, it gave me insight into my own experience as an American child with bi-cultural expectations and unique perspectives. Many of us, like Terzian, were raised by parents or have grandparents who came to this country wanting an escape from harship, but, while enjoying a better life, were uncomfortable with the differences and afraid of losing the hearts and minds of their children. Terzian captures this paradox and much more.

This was gripping reading. I read it cover to cover on a transatlantic flight without even stopping for a refreshment. During this time, I disturbed others as it made me cry and laugh as I follow Marys rollercoaster of an experience. Buy it, you won't regret it.

The writing is beautiful, the story tender and brave. Mary's book touches the hearts of people everywhere. The Immigrant's Daughter shows that wherever we've come from, we belong to one human family.