A Father's Betrayal

I thoroughly enjoyed this biography, even as it was written in the Author's voice, however unedited! It was actually refreshing to read and created an odd sort of connection that made the author real to me, made her and her story come alive in my imagination as I read her accounts, made her various family members real as well with the whole range of emotions as you read!I can't imagine the cultural shock of her and her sisters going from a British upbringing in a modern society to the restrictive environment they found themselves in! On one hand, the author may have been able to adapt slightly better being younger; as clearly the older sister rebelled in the ultimate way - choosing suicide than the life that awaited her. My heart broke for the girl Manu.I'm glad she stood up to her dad, which forced the hand in her getting out of there. She'd clearly been wishing and dreaming for it and was scared to do anything about it; yet this really was the breaking point - die if she stuck around; die trying to escape; try to escape, get caught and die/get killed anyway most likely; or try to escape and she just might make it! Up til the end you hold your breathe if she's gonna make it.Her story really shed light on how girls and women are treated in other areas of the world that most Westerners really can't begin to imagine! To go from 60's/70's England and all the freedoms girls and women world wide were experiencing then being abruptly moved to a remote village that had no running water, no electricity, no plumbing, pure survival in the middle of nowhere and no hope but to maybe marry a 'nice' guy! She was extremely lucky in her first marriage, with mutual love and adoration and even love and support of his family! It was tragic when he died! To go from the love she'd found to the brutal, cruel, abusive guy she was forced to marry...!The end was very abrupt and very unsatisfying. It left so many questions and loose ends! I'd have loved for it to have had a epilogue where it told of her integration back into British society, how she was able to raise her kids, how the reunion with her former foster Dad/family went, and what happened to all the extended family members she wrote extensively about - her sister Yas, Nebat, the little cousin, the absent husband, the obsessed dad, the boyfriend left behind, the extended family members... Reading so much about them, you almost feel like you know them, they're real people with personalities and character - what happened to them all? Thanks to google and a number of British online news links, I was able to answer the most pressing questions; but still felt her story was left incomplete in that sense.The crazy thing is that the foster dad tried to protect them and keep them, he went up against the authorities who all turned a blind eye to him! If only they'd taken him seriously then these girls would not have had to experience such atrocities! Yet now she's an avid advocate and her experiences strengthen the argument against child marriages, having experienced it so fully...

The true story of Muna and her sisters tell of the everyday basic sacrifices, struggles & abuses they suffer both as children and as adult women. It was awe inspiring to even comprehend Muna could ever laugh much less have hope of a better future as she dreamed of freedom in England from seemingly inescapable situations. Muna & her sisters labored in the hardest of environments in a tiny isolated village in Yemen were they lived without running water, electricity, proper medical care, or basic human rights for females. Reading the parts about how bread was cooked in the clay oven and meals prepared was worth the cost of the book alone. The poor girls even had to wade waist deep in a barrel of goat & sheep dung to mix it up to make round fuel patties for the cooking stove.The girls were abused by their father & paternal grandfather. Muna was sold into marriage at 13. She underwent a lifetime of tragedy. She is one of the bravest & most special women I have ever been honored to read about or hear about. Since reading this book, I've searched on Gabriella Gillespie, the Author, and been following her brave outreach work on Twitter & in UK news articles. She is bringing her story public to spotlight child brides & female abuse. I wish her & her beautiful family continued success & Good Wishes. I can't wait for a follow-up book.THIS BOOK is certainly a must read!!!!! It will touch your heart & soul!!!

An interesting story, and though excessively detailed, the memoir remains unverified.Gabriella Gillespie, Muna, reveals the betrayal her father perpetrated upon her and her sisters. After murdering their mother, Mary, their father, Ali Safeh Yafai, surreptitiously planned a trip for his three younger daughters to travel to Yemen, his native country. Only the eldest sister, Ablah, who is seventeen, stays in New South Wales with their foster parents, who urge the sisters not to leave the country. Once in Yemen, the three sisters are told the truth by their father’s family; that he planned their marriages, and they would live in Yemen permanently.The terrified, young, teen-aged, girls rebel however their family easily restricts their movements. Soon, their father joins his family. The sisters suffer deprivation, slave labor, and physical abuse.The book contains numerous grammatical errors.

A tragic story exposing the differences of being raised in one country then moved to another. It's as if these sisters were sheep being goaded to slaughter. The same love that established their loyalty, gave them strength to follow their dreams and beliefs, was torn from their lives without introduction. Today your life has happiness and a future. An airplane ride away and you have no control of life as you knew it but worse yet, no idea what has brought the fear and loss of love you were raised with. Well related story which is heart breaking and brutally candid of the diversity that truly does exist.

A real read by a real person. A warning to us all. Not you usual romantic novel. It must have taken courage to put this down on paper. I heard Gabriella Gillespie on the BBC and she came over so well. It was obvious that although her story was unbelievable she was telling the truth.The book is the same. She tells her story in her words not the words of someone who has taken "How to write a bestseller" lessons and that is what makes it so powerful and she has written a best seller although in the light of what she had to go through to do this it would have been better if she hadn't.I do hope that her life is better now and I thank her for the warning. Beware of cultures that treat women as second class humans to be bought and sold!

I liked the honesty. What was annoying was that with the knowledge that her father went to prison for murdering her mother, for years she did not believe it - until her dad actually confessed. The book is also a warning to non-muslim women considering marriage to a muslin that she should simply find out about the religion and culture rather than being ignorant. I say this with the utmost respect. Arranged marriages is the norm.....and many result in very happy loving relationships ( basically the same as love marriages). The only difference is it can be hard for a woman to leave a bad marriage and men usually have custody of any children ( simply the opposite to western culture). The fact she had to learn to cook in a clay oven, carry water, no electricity etc...is the same for many people round the world. I'm glad she came back to UK with her children...that she can maintain telephone contact with her sister (who has a good marriage).

Amazingly strong willed loving lady who faught hard to save her family & return to the UK.Only negative was it ended so suddenly once she was on the flight back to the UK - did she get through customs ok without questioning - how did things pan out for her since she was still legally married, did her lover join her & was anything ever brought to count for her father murdering their mother?? Did her sister manage to return to the UK? So many unanswered questions & it just finished... is their perhaps a follow up?All the best & stay strong & believe in yourself xxx

Unbelievably traumatic true story that had me shaking my head at the cruelty these poor girls had to endure. Opened my eyes to a culture that I knew little about and made me so angry that whole families regarded her father's actions as " normal". Hope she writes a sequel so that we can find out if her father and the others involved were finally brought to some kind of justice, although I suspect this will not be the case because it would mean transforming a widely held cultural belief on the inferiority of women.

This is the story of the way the daughters of a Yemeni father who were born in Britain to a British mother, were deceitfully transported to the Yemen and forcefully married to local men.The daughter who relates her experiences, is able to give a vivid account of life in the Yemeni village where she ended up . This includes the attitudes of various family members, the low level that women occupy in society, the nature of housing, the subsistence agriculture and the difference between town and country life. The writer is keen to point out that though the majority of people in the Yemen hold, what we might call a religiously medieval view of society, there are elements in that country whose attitudes are more tolerant and closer to western values.Although this is a fictional account, it is based on the author's personal experience. If a mild criticism may be allowed, it is that there is a certain amount of repetition concerning the beating that women suffered at the hands of husbands or fathers.

Although I found this story harrowing in parts & there were parts I wish I hadn’t read.I’m glad the author managed to escape the life she had in Yemen.All this took place in the ‘70s & early ‘80s,but unfortunately it still applies today,women seem to be just commodities that some men can brutalise.This book should be in every senior school, to warn girls of dating men from ethnic backgrounds. Thank you for bringing this practice to the worlds notice.Good Luck to you & your family.