Love in a Torn Land

Struggle is often associated with life in the Middle East. Saddam Hussein, the tyrannical ruler of Iraq from 1979 was tried, convicted and executed for war crimes he committed during his reign, but his trial for crimes committed against the people of Kurdistan never saw its logical conclusion. Saddam’s committed an equal amount of atrocities on the people of Kurdistan including the chemical attacks of 1987, known as the Al-Anfal campaign. Although the campaign was masterminded carried out by his cousin “Chemical Ali“, the freedom given to Ali was Saddam’s doing.

Chemical Ali’s inhuman acts continue to rankle the people of Kurdistan even today. Born through these times was the love story of Joanna and Sarbast who fought against the regime and escaped. The book follows the life of Joanna from her days in Baghdad as a young girl to the day she herself became a mother and finally managed to escape from the inhumane Iraqi government to asylum in England.

A true story, it does make you feel for the couple while at the same time raising questions about Joanna’s decisions to marry a pershmerga. But love knows no reason. Written in an autobiographical manner, the book tells an incredible story of love, perseverance and incredible courage. Definitely worth reading, it does jar in a few places. The ending, for instance, is too sudden. Their flight from a refugee camp in Iran to England should have been well documented. After all, the reader has spent 20-plus years with Joanna and knowing how she finally escaped did seem the point of the book in general.

However, more important than the style of writing or the language or even the flow of the book here, is the story it tells. One of love, crime and a tyrant who ruined a perfectly good country. Do read this one.

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