Journal Entry 1 by azuki from Miami, Florida USA on Monday, October 05, 2009

Malika Oufkir's profound and heartbreaking memoir, Stolen Lives, told of her family's twenty-year imprisonment in a Moroccan desert jail and their eventual breathtaking escape. It became a huge national best seller and was the second non-fiction title ever selected for Oprah's Book Club.

In her highly anticipated follow-up, Malika reflects on the life she lived before and during incarceration and how dramatically the world had changed when she emerged. As the daughter of the king of Morocco’s closest aide, Malika grew up in the palace as companion to the Moroccan princess, living a fairy tale existence. But in 1972, her father was executed for attempting to assassinate the king, and Malika, at that time a teenager, was imprisoned with her family for two decades.

In her new book, Freedom, Oufkir reveals what it is like to return to the world after twenty years of darkness. Living life for the first time as an adult, she writes candidly on her adjustment to the modern world -- from negotiating ATMs to the excesses of shopping malls, to falling in love for the first time. Moving, funny, and full of wisdom and insight, Freedom is a sequel every bit as masterful and thought-provoking as the original. 

Journal Entry 2 by azuki from Miami, Florida USA on Tuesday, April 27, 2010

In this memoir, Malika Oufkir talks about her life after release from prison. She feels lost amidst modern convenience such as credit cards, debit cards and supermarkets, she has a paranoidic fear of men in uniform, and she is a 40-year-old virgin wanting to yet scared to love. The chapters are arranged by theme, rather than chronological order, which can be confusing. It was rather interesting to see things through her unique perspective, and her beautiful personality shines through the words.

This is now heading to Rootmartin who selects it from the Bio/Memoir Swap on BookObsessed. Enjoy!! 

Journal Entry 3 by rootmartin from Marlborough, Massachusetts USA on Sunday, May 16, 2010

Thanks, azuki! I'm looking forward to reading this. It arrived while I was in Ethiopia.