Customer Reviews

Mayada, Daughter of Iraq

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I felt the need to respond to Alicia for her September 15th review of my book, MAYADA, DAUGHTER OF IRAQ. This book is not anti-Arab, in fact, it is the exact opposite, simply telling the story of female prisoners, and their consequent friendships, who endure a hell in Saddam's prisons. This story makes readers admire and respect Arab women, as they should.

I'll respond to the questions raised by Alicia although I will make this brief.

1) About the cover: Once the author sells the rights to a book, he/she has little input about the covers or about anything much to do with the book, including publicity. Publishing is a business and publishing houses have large staffs to decide the best way to make their money back on a book. Dutton first had a cover with Mayada on it but when they took the book to market, the big booksellers protested the cover and said they wanted a veiled woman on it. At that time, the cover was changed. This was not the author's decision.

2) ANYONE WHO WRITES A REVIEW SHOULD HAVE READ THE BOOK THEY DISCUSS: Reviewer Alicia could not have even looked through this book, forget reading it. If she had only thumbed through the book, she would have seen the photographs of Mayada and of her family inside the book. Since Mayada came to the United States and toured with me on the book, and appeared on a number of national television and radio shows, there's no doubt in anyone's mind that Mayada exists. Add to that, Mayada's family is well known and highly respected throughout the entire world. Winston Churchill even wrote the obit for Mayada's grandfather, Jafar Al-Askari. Where on earth does the reviewer get the idea that Mayada Al-Askari does not exist? Such a statement should not be made by anyone.

3) I have female friends from all over the Arab world. I have Arab female friends from Palestine, and I have Jewish female friends from Israel. Perhaps I will write a book one day that tells the story of those women. I simply haven't had the time or met the right woman, even though I have been doing research. Everyone who read my book ESTER'S CHILD, commented on the fairness of that book, featuring a Jewish family and a Palestinian family.

4) Alicia should read MAYADA and then do a review without bringing in all sorts of false accusations against me, or against Mayada. It's a great pity when women attack other women for no good reason.. We must band together if we are ever to help women worldwide have the right to live in dignity.

I am a great champion of women's issues--including women of every nationality. There's plenty of work to be done in every country--including the United States.

Amazon should pull Alicia's review since it is clear this reviewer is doing nothing but venting anger which has nothing to do with me, a champion for women's rights in the Arab world, and in other countries. This reviewer is attacking thew wrong person and the wrong book and is making false implications about Mayada and about the book itself.

Jean Sasson

I purchased this book as soon as it was published because I have read the Princess books by Jean Sasson and already knew that she was an editorial genius. This book is about the title-character, Mayada. Mayada came from a prominent Iraqi family and she owned and managed a printing shop. Tragically under the harsh rule of Saddam Hussein she was accused of breaking the law and thrown in jail. Mayada's basic human rights were violated while she was in jail. She met several women in her jail cell, the "shadow women" as they are called. The shadow women are all so brave and harrowing. Each shadow woman has her own story of despair; one worse than the next. The fate of the shadow women is unknown, but if you read this book you will find out what happens to Mayada. "Mayada" is among Ms. Sasson's best work. It is thought-provoking, intense and written in great detail. It is my sincere hope that Ms. Sasson will write a follow-up story this.

Like everyone else who keeps up with news reports on what's happening in Iraq, I was bamboozled by the search for weapons of mass destruction, disappointed by the lack of results and second-guessing the choice we Americans made to interfere in the sovereign rights of a member of the United Nations.

Then I was lucky enough as a journalist to meet Mayada...after I read Jean Sasson's book about her life.

Sasson depicts Mayada in the book as a true gentlewoman who traces her lineage back to remarkable gentlemen and women of the educated elite in the part of the world where civilization first emerged. In person, she proved to be that bright and gentle woman.

Mayada, through the book and in person, is an excellent spokesman for the injustices of the just-ousted regime in Iraq, for the justice represented by our unilateral action in Iraq and for the promise of a democratic stronghold in the Middle East.

After reading the book, even as a seasoned journalist, I have a different frame of reference when I hear, see or read the sensational reports intimating that our U.S. actions were or are based on eroneous grounds.

Mayada - a jounalist herself - calls it "a good thing." Knowing her story now, I agree. Read the book and you'll watch history unfold from the viewpoint of someone who has been there.

My name is Mayada Al-Askari , and I am the subject of the book Ms. Jean Sasson wrote : (Mayada Daughter of Iraq) . I read Ms . Noor Al-Timimi's review of the book , and was surprised about two points in her reasons for not giving the book 5 stars , where she assumes that :
1- The existence of : "Conflict in some details like it was mentioned at the beginning of the story that she was caught before her daughter's birthday, then at the end of the book she repeated that she got caught right after her daughter's birthday."
There is no conflict about the dates of my daughter Fay's birthday , or the date of my arrest, Fay was born on the 17th of July 1983 , we celebrated her birthday on the 17th of July 1999 in the Alwiya Club , it was a Saturday , and I was arrested two days after , on the 19th of July 1999 , a date I will never forget for the rest of my life , then , in the letter to ( Samara) , there was a mention that I went to the club with both my children , Fay and Ali to use the pay phone there , and that I baked a cake to get all the personnel there to gather around Fay and Ali , for me to be able to make the phone calls without the switchboard person listening to my conversations , it was not Fay's birthday then , but she took the cake as a gift , as she did not offer them her cake on her birthday that she celebrated on the 17th of July in the club . I wish Ms . Noor had read that part in a more thorough manner before passing on that judgment .

2- Ms . Noor Al-Timimi says : " Despite that it is purely my assumption, but the author did not convince me that she met Mayada "by coincidence".

I am so glad that all the people that worked in the Iraqi press center of the Ministry of Information at the time I met author Jean Sasson , are still well and working in Iraq , Mr. Farouk Saloum , who was the Director General is still there , and can be contacted through the Al-Zaman Newspaper or Galary Hewar in Baghdad , Mr. Shakir Al-Falahy , who still works in the Ministry of Information , Mr. Ahmed Sami Fattah , and he still works in the Associated Press office in Baghdad , and if Ms. Noor would like to contact me on my e-mail : mayadaaskari@hotmail.com , I will be glad to supply her with (Iraqi ) telephone numbers of people that will testify , that my meeting with Ms. Jean Sasson was in fact and reality a coincidence . I was called by the Ministry of Information press center in the summer of 1998 , upon the orders of Mr. Farouk Saloum to meet Ms. Jean Sasson and be her translator for the duration of her stay in Iraq , and I had not known Ms. Jean Sasson before that meeting in my entire life ( I wish I had though , for she is one of the most wonderful , honest and decent persons I have ever known in my life) .
I am also glad to report here that Al-Rasheed hotel personnel still have their books intact and can verify Ms. Sassons visit to Iraq in Summer 1998 , and that I was her translator , as she was so sweet to every single one of them , that they continued to telephone me after she left for a long time asking me about her and how she was doing and if we were writing to each other or not.
Lastly , if this is not the way Ms. Sasson and myself met , then why on earth would Ms. Sasson ( a very honest person ) change the facts??

I am a cadet that was in the audience when Jean and Mayada spoke at West Point last week. Even though we have precious little time for personal reading, I read the story of Mayada that was signed and given to me after the talk. I inhaled it!
A soldier's job is not to question the wisdom of the use of force, but Mayada definitely made all of us feel quite proud to know that many of our academy forbears partook in such a heroic accomplishment to free a country's people from their cruel leader. The people of Iraq are extremely grateful.
I recommend this book for all soldiers - those who have served in Iraq and those who have not - and all future soldiers who may still be comtemplating their decision to join.

I have read all Ms. Sassons books , and I was very happy to see a new book (Mayada , daughter of Iraq) , and take it from me , a real Iraqi that was born and raised in Iraq , Ms Sasson wrote the story as an Iraqi , as if she had lived under Saddams rule. I advise all readers to get the book . It portrayes the true life in Iraq before we Iraqies were set free.
A five star reading
ILTIFAT AZIZ

For anyone who ever questioned or were against the removing of Saddam Hussein from power needs to read this book immediately. This is especially true for any of you human rights activists who are against Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This book thouroughly details the story of a young, divorced mother who was making a nice life for herself, despite the brutal ecomnomic embargo placed on that country due to Saddam's actions, only to have her place of business trashed by Saddam's henchmen in an effort to try and find "evidence" of someone writing up anti-government flyers. Despite not finding anything of this sort, Mayada (the main character in this story, whose family is famous and very well known throughout the Arab world) was arrested anyway and was thrown into one of Saddam's infamous prisons. She was locked in a small cell with 17 other women.

From there the book details these brave women's (and also goes into the men's suffering as well) coping with the stress of prison life in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The book goes into the horrendous torture methods used upon these people and the aftermath of their torture; the squalid conditions of prison life over there; the cries of wanting to see their families again, but knowing they may never see them again; and their battle to keep each other's spirits up despite the brutal conditions.

This book goes into such detail that I could almost feel the soles of my own bare feet being caned until the bottoms of my feet were so scarred that I would not be able to walk.

What also is interesting here is the very minor "offenses" these poor people committed to get themselves in this position. They were imprisoned for everything from hearing anti-government statements to flat out false accusations.

This book is an absolute must read for it will permanently show you just how satanic Saddam Hussein and his horrible regeime really were and why on the human rights violations alone (never mind the WMD issue and his long support for terrorism) were more than enough to justify a war to remove him from power. No one deserves to live like that under constant fear.

Do yourself a favor and read this book it is well worth the time, especially with everything going on in Iraq right now.

Everyone in America should read this book now. We have so few reliable sources for inside information about Iraqi rule under Sadaam. The book is a well written, easy to read story that relates an Iraqi woman's shocking story and the inconceivable story of those around her. Mayada, a journalist, is from a legendary, well-connected family that has endured generations of political upheaval until she and her family finally fled their beloved Iraq after living under the horrors of an atrocious dictator. While in prison, Mayada mind-escapes by evoking Iraqi history and the stories of her many acquaintances and family members, including her own experiences with Sadaam, his regime, and his son, Uday. I couldn't put it down without thinking about Mayada and it has certainly wetted my appetite to read more on Iraq.

By horrible I'm referring to the things that Iraqis have had to endure since they were formed into a nation - all in the name of greed or different people wanting to come into power. First a royal family was killed, then the Baathist party toppled the government, Saddam Hussein came into power, there was the Iraq-Iran war, the crippling sanctions (imposed by the U.S.), and now the Iraq invasion.

Mayada Al-Askari is a granddaughter of a famous Arab, who is thought of as "the father of modern Arab" - Sati Al-Husri. In fact, most of Mayada's family was either diplomats or had connections throughout the Arab world.

This book is about how under Saddam Hussein's brutal regime, there was a secret police that would arrest any Iraqi who said anything bad about Saddam Hussein or in most cases - did nothing illegal at all. The ways the people are tortured by the secret police is barbaric. It's hard to imagine human beings would do that to other human beings. This book details Mayada's stay in Baladiyat prison with other "shadow women". In between, this book also weaves in great stories about Iraq's history and Mayada's family.

For some good reading on Saddam Hussein and the hardships of the sanctions- Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein is good or going to the United Nations website and searching about Iraq sanctions. For other great books by Jean Sassoon - any book in the Princess trilogy is wonderful.

I am an Iraqi woman who survived Saddam Hussein's house of torture. I lost a brother to the regime. I have heard of the Al-Askari family and know that they are well respected by most Iraqis. Because of this, I read this book with great interest and found it to be a mirror of the life most Iraqis led. I congratulate Mayada Al-Askari for allowing Ms. Sasson to tell her true story, which leaves no doubt that the world, along with Iraqis, needed rescuing from Saddam's cruel henchmen.

Let the Americans and the British know that they did a good thing with their war on Saddam. We Iraqis are free.

I speak with pride of an Iraqi woman brave enough to let her story be told.