Heroine of the Desert

When Donya Al-Nahi helped her friend reunite with her kidnapped child, she embarked upon a calling that was to help hundreds of women in the same situation. Snatched by their fathers—often Middle Eastern men who do not wish their offspring to be exposed to a Western upbringing—numerous children are taken to live in their countries of origin against the wishes of their own mothers. What started as a favor to a friend has turned into a life's work for Al-Nahi, and she describes in vivid detail her adventures into the most dangerous parts of the world—including Iraq, Libya, and Dubai—in order to find the children and bring them home. Told with sincere compassion and brutal honesty, Donya’s stories are at once heart-stopping tales as well as telling reflections on what can go wrong when people marry across the culture gap. Donya has repeatedly been arrested and thrown in jail, but this has not dampened her determination to do the right thing and reunite mother and child.