First published 2008
Joanna watches birds fall dead from the sky above her Kurdish mountain village. Chemical bombers unleash their deadly cargo on orders from Saddam Hussein, who commanded his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid to destroy Kurdish settlements with poison gas in 1987. The attack leaves Joanna permanently blind, but her husband, a Kurdish freedom fighter, saves her life amid the chaos and death. She must now navigate a world transformed by violence and loss, finding ways to survive in a land torn apart by genocide. Her story reaches beyond personal tragedy to illuminate the broader struggle of the Kurdish people under Hussein's brutal regime. This account comes directly from Joanna herself, now living safely in Britain, as told to bestselling author Jean Sasson. The book captures both the horror of systematic persecution and the resilience of those who endured it, showing how love and courage persist even in the darkest circumstances.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: resilience, survival
Setting: Britain, Kurdistan, Middle East
Period: 1987
303 pages · Paperback · Alnari d.o.o Beograd.
Content warnings: death, violence