Book Review: Not Without My Daughter

05 January, 2013

When I first bought the book 'Not without my daughter', I wasn't really expecting to read a great story. But I was proved wrong; this book is a bundle of surprises. More than the story, the book taught me a great deal about life, which all of us need to know.

THE BASIC storyline involves Betty Mahmoody, an American lady who falls in love with an Iranian doctor who works in America and gets married to him for the sake of love. This story proves that love, given some time, is not permanent.

The two-week vacation, which Betty and her five-year-old daughter Mahtob, make to Iran along with her husband Mahmoody, turns out to be a trap. Mahmoody captures his wife and daughter - denying them the freedom to fly back to America, their hometown. He develops feelings for his country Iran, and forces his wife and daughter to follow the Iranian culture. Betty is trapped and separated from her daughter while she is held captive in a house. She is tortured, beaten and is threatened with her life if she goes against her husband’s will.

The story takes an interesting turn when Betty makes use of every situation, however disappointing and hopeless it seems. She follows the Iranian culture, which she detested, and she allows the man, who broke her heart, whom she detested, to touch her in an attempt to devise her plan to escape from Iran. More than often, she is offered help from strangers to escape to America but without her daughter. Betty stays firm that she wouldn't leave without her daughter.

The struggle and courage of one woman’s undying love for her daughter and the courage to escape from the clutches of a barbarian husband fills the reader’s heart with utmost respect for Betty Mahmoody. Though it seemed impossible to escape, after a long wait of 18 months, Betty manages to escape along with her daughter in the most perilous conditions, which are beyond human endurance.

In the book, Betty has documented her experiences in the most detailed manner, which explains how her every move was taken, and also the people she met in her 18-month stay in Iran, some who helped her and some who betrayed her. It’s definitely a book that teaches that with profound faith and confidence, one can create one's own destiny.