Mayada, Daughter of Iraq: One Woman's Survival Under Saddam Hussein

I have read most of Jean Sasson's books but this one shocked me to the core.
Although I am probably no different from any other person who has lived in western europe, I was not fully aware of the atrocities that Iraqi's had to endure whilst living under sadam Hussein's rule. This man never feared God and a result of this many innocents endured brutal torture. I cried when I read the book if only for the innocents that were taken as prisoners not only at Baladiyat.
This books proves under 'his' rule - human rights did not exist so long as no one dared to bad mouth him.

Very Telling Book About The Horrors of Iraqi Jails (6/9 people found this helpful)

I really enjoyed reading the book. I read it in two days because I had a hard time let it down. I am very familiar with Mayada from the Alwyah Club she mentioned in the book-although I don't recall ever chatting with her. Reading about someone I am familiar with undergoing a horrible experience was very sobering.

The book explains why Mayada went from being a young lady who wore miniskirts and dresses from Paris and London to being a veiled woman. Her experience at one of Chemical Ali's unusual meetings with the families of arrested Iraqis seem to have frightened her. With her father and grandparents gone, and with ineffective marriage, Mayada felt unprotected. Turning to God as a source of assurance for safety made sense. Freud viewing such a relationship as a form of child-parent relationship with God being the super parent that will make things alright. Something similar happened to me that kindles my faith as a Christian.

The book seems to play up Mayada's grandfather's role in the history of Iraq. That is probably very true during the monarchy period. Once the revolution set in 1958 there was a very strong nationalistic movement in Iraq that the Baath party certainly fed on. People like Mayada's grandfathers because more part of the history of Iraq and had little influence on the general population. Perhaps Saddam had a soft spot for Mayada's maternal grandfather, I am almost sure that did not last, since Saddam quickly became the megalomaniac monster with absolutely NO REGARD for ANYONE.

The book mentions in several places that Saddam was so suspicious that he rarely defended people in the government who were accused for working against Saddam and his regime. I think the author and Mayada have failed to grasp that it is Saddam himself, operating in a Stalin-like mode, who deliberately went after loyal officials and officers to maintain a state of paranoia among people. Saddam was behind all of these accusations that he never seemed to refute.

I highly recommend this book for Iraqi expatriates as well as westerners who would like to view a snapshot about the violence behind the scenes that was being committed against the Iraqi people. Upon the liberation of Iraq, this violence came to the surface and was directed towards the American armed forces and the new Iraqi army and security forces. The old monsters are far from being gone!

Full of facts (4/6 people found this helpful)

This is excellent book. I am Iraqi and can confidently call my self contemporary with the pereiod the book mostly describes. All the stories mentioned in the book are facts and nothing fictitious. I congratulate the writer and Myada for this marvelous work. More of this kind of work need to be produced and put in the public domain. People should know that WMD can very well be in human form ie:terrorist organisations and governments supporting them.

A rivetting read. (2/5 people found this helpful)

This is a fascinating read telling the harrowing story of one womans struggle inside one of Saddam's prisons. She got off lightly (if you can call it that) because of who she is and who her family are but recounts the horrors that others suffered at the hands of the monsters that ruled Iraq.

UNPUTDOWNABLE!! (13/19 people found this helpful)

What can I say? another brilliant book by Sasson, who should be congratulated for her excellent work. The book is a must for anybody and everybody. The story is of an innocent woman by the name of Mayada who is imprisoned for a week. Mayada, an elite in Iraqi society born into a priveleged life some could only dream of, was shown the true colours of Saddam and his regime whilst suffering inside one of his secret torture jails, and the plight of 20 other innocent women who Mayada shared her cell with. A thoroughly good book, interesting, reporting not only the bad but also the good times in Iraq, and details of Saddam Hussein. I only hope that such a book will be written about the continuing injusticies against the Sikhs in India. Maybe someday the world will know that the Iraqi's are not the only country and people who have been subjected to such injustices.

Mayada, Daughter of Iraq: One Woman's Survival Under Saddam Hussein

Jean Sasson

Reader Reviews:

not for the faint hearted! (1/2 people found this helpful)

Very Telling Book About The Horrors of Iraqi Jails (6/9 people found this helpful)

Full of facts (4/6 people found this helpful)

A rivetting read. (2/5 people found this helpful)

UNPUTDOWNABLE!! (13/19 people found this helpful)

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