From Publishers Weekly
When author Sasson (Esther's Child; Princess Sultana's Circle; etc.) was assigned Mayada Al-Askari as a translator on a 1998 trip to Baghdad, she had no idea she would form a lasting friendship with this fluent English-speaker and member of a prominent Iraqi family. When Sasson returned to the United States, the two women wrote letters and telephoned each other weekly until, in 1999, Mayada was arrested by Saddam Hussein's secret police for allegedly printing anti-regime pamphlets in her Baghdad print shop and imprisoned for nearly a month in Iraq's brutal Baladiyat Prison. Sasson's candid, straightforward account of Mayada's time among the 17 "shadow women" crammed into Cell 52 gives readers a glimpse of the cruelty and hardship endured by generations of Iraqis. Mayada stares down this ugliness as soon as she's yanked from her meticulously run shop into the prison's interrogation room: "She saw chairs with bindings, tables stacked high with various instruments of torture.... But the most frightening pieces of... equipment were the various hooks that dangled from the ceiling. When Mayada glanced to the floor beneath those hooks, she saw splashes of fresh blood, which she supposed were left over from the torture sessions she had heard during the night." Sasson's graceful handling of such stomach-turning material, including an overview of Iraq's political and social turmoil, is a tribute to her friend, who escaped to Jordan with her children soon after her release from prison. Although Mayada's story has a happy ending, the unclear fates of her cell mates serve as a painful reminder of how many innocent lives were cut short by Hussein's regime.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Sasson, author of Princess: A True Story of Life behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia (1992), first met Mayada in 1998. A year later, Mayada, granddaughter of a revered Iraqi hero who fought with Lawrence of Arabia, a former journalist, modern businesswoman, and the mother of two children, was arrested and imprisoned on allegations that her business was printing antigovernment flyers. Sasson relates Mayada's imprisonment with 17 "shadow women," similarly falsely accused and imprisoned and subjected to torture and cruelty under the regime of Saddam Hussein. To distract themselves, the women tell each other stories of their lives, and Mayada discloses her high-born, privileged lifestyle even though her family were not members of the leading Baath Party. She recalls her mother's acquaintance with Hussein's wife and their mutual dislike. Mayada also tells of interviews with the cruel and erratic Ali Hassan al-Majid, Hussein's cousin and the man who would become known as Chemical Ali. This is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the cruelties suffered by the Iraqis under Hussein. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Publishers Weekly
Sasson's candid, straightforward account...gives readers a glimpse of the cruelty and hardship endured by generations of Iraqis.

USA Today
Must-reading for anyone interested in human rights.

People
Absolutely riveting and profoundly sad.

Book Description
A member of one of the most distinguished and honored families in Iraq, Mayada grew up surrounded by wealth and royalty. But when Saddam Hussein's regime took power, she was thrown into cell 52 in the infamous Baladiyat prison with seventeen other nameless, faceless women from all walks of life. To ease their suffering, these "shadow women" passed each day by sharing their life stories. Now, through Jean Sasson, Mayada is finally able to tell her story-and theirs-to the world.

About the Author
Jean Sasson is a writer and lecturer who has lived in Saudi Arabia and traveled extensively in the Middle East. She is the author of four international bestselling books on the Middle East, including The Rape of Kuwait, Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, Princess Sultana's Daughters, and Princess Sultana's Circle. She now lives in the southern United States, although she frequently visits the Middle East.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Mayada Al-Askari is a true daughter of Iraq. This self-reliant print shop owner traced her heritage to one of the most distinguished and honored families in the country. One grandfather fought alongside Lawrence of Arabia; the other is recognized as the first true Arab nationalist, publicly admired by even Saddam Hussein. Mayada's uncle was Iraq's prime minister for nearly 40 years; her mother, a high government official. Yet all her venerated forebears could not guard her from the tyranny of Saddam's system. In 1999, she was seized without warning and thrown into a tiny cell in Baghdad's notorious Baladiyat Prison, which she shared with 17 equally unlucky "shadow women." This book records her courageous story and theirs.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Jean Sasson, author of the international bestseller Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, met Mayada Al-Askari on a trip to Baghdad in 1998. A year later, Jean learned that Mayada had been arrested and thrown into Iraq's Baladiyat Prison -- headquarters of Saddam Hussein's secret police.

Mayada's story, both past and present, is truly incredible. Her family was one of the most distinguished and honored families in Iraq. One grandfather fought alongside Lawrence of Arabia. The other was the first true Arab nationalist (admired greatly by Saddam Hussein). Her uncle was prime minister of Iraq for nearly forty years; her mother an important government official. In her youth. Mayada vacationed with Iraqi royalty. When Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party seized power in 1979, Mayada didn't foresee the devastation it would wreak upon her life and her beloved country. But she soon found herself alone, a divorced mother of two, earning a meager living printing brochures. She had no idea that she could ever become a target of Saddam's secret police ... until one nightmarish day in 1999. At Baladiyat, Mayada was thrown into cell 52 with seventeen other women -- nameless and faceless, from all sorts of backgrounds -- whose only shared connection was imprisonment without trial and the ever-present threat of torture and execution. To shut out the screams of other prisoners and to forget their fears, the "shadow women" passed each day by sharing their life stories. Mayada fascinated her cellmates with tales of her prominent family and of her own meetings with Saddam Hussein and Chemical Ali. Mayada has longed to share her story, but not until recent events was she able to speak out. Now, in Mayada, Daughter of Iraq, the searing and poignant story of one woman and her will to survive under the regime of Saddam Hussein comes to life. The names of the shadow women are still scrawled in charcoal onto the wall of cell 52 in the hopes that one day one of them would make it out to tell others of their existence. This is Mayada's courageous story, but also that of her sisters.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly