The Girl Who Escaped ISIS

A harrowing, unforgettable tale.

Simon Shaw, Mail on Sunday

Truly a triumph of the human spirit over terror

Irish Times

Farida's story needs to be told

The Times

This is one of those rare volumes that offers astonishing insights into the human spirit

Observer

A compelling testament to the suffering of ordinary people caught up in violence far beyond their control

Guardian

Mesmerising

Sunday Times

‘Farida shows the good and bad sides of religion… She criticises aspects of her own upbringing like certain religious taboos – such nuance is impressive’

HEUTE.de

‘Farida tells her story courageously and bravely as she describes how she resisted attempts to convert, marry and rape her, for so long in some cases that the ISIS henchmen actually left her alone’

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

‘Her story highlights atrocities, but it is also a moving account of how friendship, love and the will to survive are mightier than any barbarism’

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‘How much can a single person endure? Traumatised, uprooted, abused – Farida continues to deal with the consequences of ISIS. Nevertheless, this memoir is full of hope. She is a very strong individual, she has the heart of a lioness. An amazing story that encourages us never to keep quiet or to give in’

Frank Heinrich, German Parliamentary Speaker on Human Rights

Farida's story needs to be told

The Times

It’s a shattering, brave, enraging book but also a stirring story of survival.

Sunday Express

Mesmerising

Sunday Times

Truly a triumph of the human spirit over terror

Irish Times

A compelling testament to the suffering of ordinary people caught up in violence far beyond their control

Guardian

A compelling testament to the suffering of ordinary people caught up in violence far beyond their control – and to the particularly terrible price it exacts from women.

Rachel Aspden, Guardian

A gut-wrenching and relentless experience...Farida's story needs to be told.

Catherine Philip, The Times

A powerful description of a world ripped apart... Farida tells a story that is testament to how toxic violence can be born of religion.

New Statesman

A stunning, heart wrenching narrative... Everyone should read this in order to get to the heart of the tragedy of the Arab world and the distortion of Islam being perpetrated by ISIS. Beautifully written in the voice of a teenage girl, this book gives more of an understanding of what is happening than political treatises.

Ahmed Rashid

Although a harrowing story it is also an uplifting one as it is truly a triumph of the human spirit over terror.

Frank McGabhann, Irish Times

An unflinching account… This is one of those rare volumes that offers astonishing insights into the human spirit… A catalogue of horror is made bearable only by her extraordinary courage.

Joan Smith, Observer

Farida Khalaf won her small but significant battle. Its happy ending notwithstanding, it's difficult to focus on positivity – but then, perhaps that's why this remains a vital read.

Hot Press

Shattering, brave, angering account

The Bookseller

Starkly horrifying memoir.

Andrew Lynch, Sunday Business Post

This is a brave, harrowing but necessary book.

Colette Sheridan, Irish Examiner

This is a mesmerising study of human cruelty and a brave depiction of the monsters that arise when reason sleeps.

Oliver Thring, Sunday Times

This is one of those rare volumes that offers astonishing insights into the human spirit

Observer

This powerful testimoney is ... as gripping as it is appalling

Guardian

Timely, excruciating and important.

Bookseller