That could distract him because he knew Mahtob was afraid of going to the bathroom alone. In August 1984, Michigan housewife Betty Mahmoody accompanied her husband to his native Iran for a two-week vacation that turned into a p… Buy product. Her father appeared in them, chasing her. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. This was quite an old used book but was ok to read for book club, now I’ll pass it on. Your review has been submitted and will appear here shortly. Her attitude improved, and she convinced him to move in with different relatives. Betty Mahmoody didn’t want to go, but she said felt she had no choice. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 22, 2016. She seems to have more energy and passion than a combination of 10 others! Categories: Autobiography, Biography, Cultural, Iran, Memoir, Nonfiction. “The response has been very positive. Not Without My Daughter. She just tells the story as it was....and what a story! Neither of these plans materialized because Betty escaped from Moody early. To her horror, she found herself and her four-year-old daughter, Mahtob, virtual prisoners of a man rededicated to his Shiite Moslem faith, in a land where women are near-slaves and Americans are despised. That's the feeling that I got while reading about what Moody did to Betty. She wrote the following: It was August 3, 1984. I look forward to buying it again and this time, reading the book that inspired the movie! The spirit of both mum and daughter so indomitable. You may unsubscribe at any time. The day before their scheduled return to the United States, one of Moody's relatives went to the airport in order to make the preparations for their departure. For the next day and most of the night, they used horses to cross the snowy, mountainous border into Turkey, where Betty nearly succumbed to exhaustion and hypothermia. © 2020 www.freep.com. I literally read for 2 days. He collaborated with Alexis Kouros to create a documentary, Without My Daughter, to counter the claims in Betty's book. We have created a browser extension. She remains strong without submitting to hatred and does not reject the entire Persian race and so I think it is good for anyone who tends to overly react against people of a different background. In addition, the Finnish filmmaker — intent on orchestrating a reunion scene — had hired an MSU student to approach Mahtob. I use WIKI 2 every day and almost forgot how the original Wikipedia looks like. Not Without My Daughter is a Literary Guild Alternate Selection. It shouldn’t have happened.”. The Iranian laws granted Moody absolute authority over his wife and daughter. Not Without My Daughter is a biographical book by Betty Mahmoody detailing the escape of Betty and her daughter, Mahtob, from Betty's abusive husband in Iran. Her mom wanted her to eat them all, “but I took the side of my hand and divided them.”, "I wouldn't eat one," says Mahtob, "until she did.". Some have criticized the movie "Not Without My Daughter" for what they say are racist depictions of Muslim men, playing into bigoted stereotypes. It took five years of Betty advocating in the Michigan Llegislature before the laws changed and Betty felt safe to file for divorce. There were times, says Mahtob, when her dad would rain punches on her mother. In 1984, when their daughter was four years old, Betty reluctantly agreed to accompany her husband on a two-week vacation to Iran in order for his family to meet Mahtob. “Now, it’s just a matter of facts. I had seen the movie and was aware of the outcome, but the story is so well told that I worried that the actual story would have a different, less thrilling ending. Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2017. While the story was true, Betty changed certain aspects of the story in order to protect those who aided her and her daughter in their escape. A couple days later, Judy invited Betty to a party where she could talk to Judy's friend Rasheed about finding a way to escape the country. I was horrified at the attitude of their men regarding their women and probably more horrified at how the women get beat by their husbands. However, after several months, Amahl was still trying to construct a way of escape. How courageous!! “They helped me to forgive my father and feel safe again.”. When she confronted Moody about not turning in her passport, he informed her that he had decided to stay and that Betty and Mahtob would remain in Iran for the rest of their lives. In preparation for their arrival, Betty, at Moody's request, gave her American passport to him in order for it not to be confiscated by the customs official. Please try again. Her father died in 2009, without ever speaking or hearing from Mahtob. I was exposed to all these cultures while I was living in rural America.”. Nurturing teachers she had at Salem Lutheran School in Owosso and at the Michigan Lutheran Seminary boarding high school in Saginaw figure prominently in the book, and she credits them with helping her heal. “I felt this sense of responsibility and that I needed to be a protector, and I did everything I could to get in between them and protect my mom from my dad,” she recalls. Betty contacted Rasheed again, but his friend still refused to take a child. They hijack their religion and reflect so poorly on their beliefs, their countries, their people.”. Betty waited for a chance to contact the Swiss Embassy. Once they arrived, the U.S. Embassy granted them sanctuary, and helped them get airline tickets for a trip back to the U.S. later that day. The first Christmas they spent in Tehran was not celebrated at all. “There are things I know. “We celebrate the Persian New Year,” which starts today. In 1977, Betty married Dr. Sayyed "Moody" Bozorg Mahmoody. “I learned a lot about myself writing,” says Mahtob. Because it was only supposed to be a two-week vacation. Moody, Betty, and Mahtob had spent two days traveling from their home in Detroit to Moody's native country of Iran. Be prepared to get schooled in Farsi as there many words and their meanings in the book. Mahtob had inadvertently checked a wrong box on a MSU form, allowing her home phone number to be published in a student directory. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. Laid out for the visitor on an immaculate white tablecloth is a breakfast of abundant hospitality — bowls of walnuts, feta cheese, softened butter and small oven-warmed pitas. Love this story from the 1980s. I love this book and I know in the future, I'll read it again. My Name Is Mahtob: The Story that Began in the Global Phenomenon Not Without My Daughter Continues, My Amish Story: Breaking Generations of Silence.

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