Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody, William Hoffer, 0552133566, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

FANTASTIC READ!

I read this book before 9-11 and was horrified at the story. I had no idea that an American woman was automatically considered a citizen of Iran without her knowledge or consent. The customs of Tehran, the filth, the squallor, the tyrannical behaviour of her husband all reinforce the ideas that the Islamic Republic of Iran has reverted right back to the Dark Ages and is ruled by a bunch of neandrathal thugs.

The two people who gave this book a bad review were (obviously) Muslim. Their arguments were riduculous and they completely ignore the fact that Betty's husband kidnapped her, beat her, threatened her and very nearly killed her. Maybe that's because they don't see anything wrong with that kind of behaviour.

A mother and daughters terrifying eighteen-month ordeal

On 3rd August 1984 Betty Mahmoody arrived in Iran with her four-year-old daughter Mahtob, who was then approaching five for a "two week holiday" and to meet her husbands family. Her husband Dr Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody ("Moody") had lived in the United States of America for two decades and was an American educated and qualified doctor.

Unknown to Betty was the fact that prior to her departure to Iran Moody lost his job at the Michigan hospital where he had been working.

Upon their arrival at the airport in Tehran, Iran's capital. Moody's family were there to greet them showering flowers upon Betty and Mahtob. Little did Betty and Mahtob know were the appalling squalor of their living conditions that were to welcome them. The whole house was unhygienic and fifthly and the place stank of mildew. The food, which they ate often, had bugs in them.

The day before they were due to go home Moody told his wife and daughter, "You are here for the rest of your life. Do you understand? You are not leaving Iran. You are here until you die."

Over time Moody grew more and more violent and often beat Betty physical but also tortured her mentally, verbally and emotionally. On several occasions he threatened to kill her and he even threatened to beat Mahtob up.

Both mother and daughter soon found themselves held hostage and constantly spied upon, either by Moody or his family. Moody once separated Mahtob from her mother for several weeks and was questioned and crossed-examined by one of Moodys relatives.

After several escape plans fell through Betty was given the name of the man who would help her and Mahtob out of Iran. They crossed the border into Turkey and made their way to the American Embassy after nearly a week of walking in the mountains with smugglers. Turkey being the most dangerous way out of Iran.

I strongly suggest you read this book to be able to appreciate what Betty and Mahtob went though during their eighteen-months of hell.

All women have to read this

A truly courageous tale. Betty is married to Iranian born Moody and they have a daughter called Mahtob Moody hes become a father to Betty's sons who were born through her first marriage. Moody has become 'amerocanised' and things are going fine until he loses his job on racial discrimination grounds and wants to visit his parents in Iran.
She's not sure but she goes when she arrives she's definately not sure oh well she thinks its only for 2 weeks. All is well until he says we are not returning home and you and only you can go, but she wont go not without her daughter!!!!!!

This is the first time I saw the real way one American think

The story started with a couple and a child spending their 2 weeks holiday in Iran. Through the holidays the wife showed no appreciation about the local culture and disgusted about everything she finds. She despised the fine expensive clothing her sister in law bought especially for her, loathed the fine oil they used in cooking. She was then horrified when she knowed that the husband planned to stay forever, and therefore tried to composed a plan to kindap their child back to America, through a journey that might kill both of them. The child was actually assimilating better than her, and this fact that the child started to absorb the local culture was actually frightened her.

The husband, on the other way had received a lot of unfair racial prejudice before he came back which affects his career and made him stressed. He tried his best to please his wife - moving out of her sister's house, moving from one relative to another, until renting a house just for the family using a borrowed money, trying to go home just before the new year. He somehow knows that if he let the wife and the children go back for a holiday she would not return. Should he knew that she will return surely they can go back sometimes and the wife won't feel so trapped. But he was also abusive which justify the wife to go back and live on 'their' asset. Who worked hard for it if she was staying at home? At least it was a joint asset and not solely her own.

The story might feels true to her to but I really want to know how her husband and her husband's relatives really feels. In the epilog her friend said that his husband was very worried and phoning everyone else.

Shows a lot of Wester prejudice

While anyone obviously feels with Betty in her situation, and accept she must get away with her daughter, the book is littered with examples where western way of life is promoted as 'the best'. It really put me off and I never dreamt off watching the film. Though an exiting yarn, it is mainly a thoroughly unimpressive book, that serves lack of willingness to recognise that there is more than one way to do certain things, such as how to serve a meal, and the Western way is just one, not necessarily the best or the worst, just different.

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