Souad was a 17-year-old girl living in a small village in Jordan when she had the misfortune of falling in love--an emotion that would lead to an unspeakable act of violence and a lifetime of exile from her homeland. With a childhood marked by hard labor and physical abuse at the hands of her father, who is humiliated by the birth of many daughters and only one son, Souad is desperate to leave home. Enticed into a relationship with a handsome neighbor, her short-lived romance leaves her pregnant. Forbidden to marry until her older sisters find husbands and having brought shame to her family, Souad faces the only acceptable punishment: death. How her family plots to kill her, her harrowing struggle to survive burns over 90% of her body after her brother-in-law douses her with gasoline and sets her on fire, her dramatic escape from Jordan, and her resolve to build a new life for herself is a tale of heartbreaking drama and remarkable courage.
Souad is a shero for surviving a modern-day Holocaust
(22 of 23 Found this Helpful)
September 7, 2007
"Burned Alive" is an insightful account of a heinous and violent crime, that is unfortunately rather common.
Souad describes thoughtfully how she was treated worse than an animal while she lived as a slave; owned by her father in a primitive West Bank Village. On a daily basis Souad was the victim of beatings and horrible abuse. Why is that?
Because like virtually all third-world/Islamic States, women are property; not human-beings. Souad is nothing if not honest and brave as she describes in detail how it is a sin simply to be born female. She even describes how her mother murdered her own newborn baby daughters because of their gender!
Souad was forbidden to ever speak to a man and could only go outside to work her long daily chores. When she was still a teenager one of her neighbors raped her repeatedly. She was young and vulnerable and this pig told her that he "loved" her and would "marry" her. But after Souad became pregnant this rapist abandoned her!
Poor Souad goes into detail about how she tried to hide her pregnancy because she knew that it would surely mean her execution. When her family was finally aware of her pregnancy (more than 6 months,) they had her brother-in-law douse her with gasoline and set her on fire. Soaud bravely describes how this felt and how she was treated.
This story is very sad, shocking, tragic but also hopeful. There are millions and millions of women who have been victims of these horrible honor murders. Souad is unique because she is a survivor. She survived her attempted murder. Her family left her for dead, but she survived. And she was able to start a new life!
My hope is that this book will be passed around in the Islamic third-world villages where women are treated worse than garbage. Proper education is the solution. No one deserves to be treated the way Soaud was; there is no justification for this.
Souad is a very courageous woman, not just for surviving, but for also telling her story. She still feels guilty, but if I could speak to her now I would tell her that she is a shero and has nothing to be ashamed off. Souad is a survivor.
I Just Want to Thank You - The Torture WILL STOP
(35 of 40 Found this Helpful)
August 23, 2005
I want to thank you for writing this book. It is a horrific account of one woman, who is also an example of many women around the world whose human rights are less than that of an animal. I am so sorry for all you have been through.
It is because of the stories that I have read that have caused me to join hw.org - Human Rights Watch - Defending Human Rights Worldwide. The barbaric torture of women, the honor killings, the rape, stoning, burning alive will come to an end. Your story along with a few others was the major catalyst in my decision for helping to bring this to an end in any way I can.
Reading about what this girl endured was chilling. It is a book like this that causes humanity to take a stand for humanity. Souad is a hero. She speaks out. Because of her words and courage she is a catalyst for humanitarian change, especially for women and children around the world.
This is a book that I feel should be required reading in every school, in every land, until this torture comes to an end.
Read this book! This is a story where you might ask "why" something like this could happen. Maybe the reason is so we see to it that it never happens again.
Burned Alive....tragic but true
(7 of 7 Found this Helpful)
September 20, 2007
This book held my interest and at times made for shocking reading. A country with beliefs so foreign to us made it almost abhorant. The true tragedy is how women in other cultures suffer and we are powerless to do anything to stop it. This book was written by a very very brave woman.
Testament to the human will and spirit.
(12 of 15 Found this Helpful)
October 28, 2005
I was wandering through Barnes & Noble when I spotted a book with a strange cover of a white mask. That was enough to grab my attention and the next thing I knew I was reading the entire book in the store, I just could not put it down. In a way this book came 12 years late for me; my college friend lived in Saudi Arabia and the stories she told me I only listened half-heartedly, partly because the problems of middle-eastern women was not my problem and mostly I had exams to worry about. But I never dismissed her stories as exaggeration because her stories nearly echoed the stories of an Arab-Palestinian (though she called her self Jordanian) classmate back in high school. It was around the same time we heard about an immigrant Muslim father in California (I think) who killed his teenage daughter with the help of his wife. His killing was caught on the FBI wire and his worthless life was sent to prison.
Anyhoo, "Burned Alive" reminded me of "Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia" by Jean Sasson. The two women's background couldn't be more dissimilar, one from a near-primitive villiage somewhere in Palestine and the other from an extended royal family. But their anger and dispair couldn't be more similar. Sasson's harsh dialogue over the state of her country echoed Souad's wordings regarding the Arabian/Islam culture in general. Sasson fantasized at one point of seeing her whole country burn with fire in order to cleanse it, so strong was her disgust of the men's behavior in her world. Souad is constantly ranting and raving against the men of her culture, and given the horrendous abuse she endured one cannot blame her for her words. At one point she lectured her European husband on why their daughters must never marry men from the middle-east. Men are rarely punished for adultery in Muslim countries. Even rape victims (some as young as 4) are killed in honor killings because it is believed that women and even young girls lead men on and the men can't control themselves. It is fairly common in Jordan, Egypt, and Pakistan but it is usually disguised as a suicide or accident. I read how Britain's police are reinvestigating the "suicides" of young Muslim women of the last 10 years, now suspected to be honor-killings instead.
In the end I believe "Burned Alive" to be a true autobiography because the personal stories I've been hearing (including from one Pakistanian ex-boyfriend - hey, I was in high school so youth and stupidity was my excuse) for the past 15 years have been eerily similar.
Very sad and I hope she is living a good life now.
(14 of 18 Found this Helpful)
July 27, 2006
I found this book moving. I guess there is some controversy if she is a real person and if the story is real. I tend to believe so. Her account of what happened seems like how a young girl would think, especially an uneducated teenager with a romantic streak to her personality.
I have PTSD and so how she reacts to situations rings true to me. How she coped with her children seems authentic to me.
When I read memoirs, I keep in mind that people will embellish their stories. Sometimes subconsciously. I think our memories tend to be tarnished by our own hopes, how we view ourselves and others, temperament and personality and other factors. Take 10 people who watched the same accident and you will get 10 different accounts about what happened. You have to read autobiographies and keep that in mind instead of being literal.
I also read that this book will cause more anti-Arabic sentiment among readers. As someone who lived around many Arab-Americans when I lived in my hometown, I can testify that Arabs are like anyone else. There are good and bad among them. And yes, some do tend to treat their women badly. I remember one Arab asked for directions and he became mad at me because I was looking him in the eyes. So he cussed me out before I could finish giving him his request. Well, I swore back at him and he looked astonished! I guess he wasn't used to women not taking any guff.
I also had a landlord who was Arab-American. He said he would never take his wife to Saudi Arabia and told me accounts of abuse that happens there. He was kind and I don't think he would ever intentionally hurt his wife. He owned a store and occasionally give my children stuff.
I recommend this book and it will make you angry. This treatment of women should not be acceptable in any culture. But this disgusting custom is not an excuse to hate someone for what nationality or religion they are.
