Stolen
Escape from Syria
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3.9 • 14 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
In the middle of one of the worst civil wars in Syria's history, Louise Monaghan crossed a heavily guarded border to save her six-year-old daughter from the father who had callously snatched her from her home in Cyprus. Not knowing what lay ahead, the Irish mother tricked her ex-husband into believing she still loved him and wanted them to live together as a family, purely so that she could see her kidnapped child again.
Once in his homeland, Louise too was held captive, locked inside a run-down house day and night with little food and no hope of being released. Sick from polluted water, severely beaten by her ex-husband and abandoned by the Turkish men paid to rescue her, she took her little girl and made a daring escape.
The journey they made through bomb attacks and sniper fire, and across a heavily patrolled mountain range in the dead of night, was a harrowing ordeal. Yet miraculously they both survived, and Stolen is Louise's breathtaking account of events.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this intense memoir, Monahan undertakes a terrifying journey to rescue her daughter following the child's kidnapping by her father. Their treacherous trek out of war-torn Syria into Lebanon to safety was suspenseful. But it is the staggering physical and psychological abuse Monahan suffered during her relationship with her ex-husband Mostafa that is the most disquieting aspect of her narrative. A native of Ireland and a successful sales consultant, Monahan was living in Cyprus when she met her future husband. Early on there were signs of trouble: At one point Mostafa nearly killed her she'd discovered he had a wife and children in Syria. Still, Monahan continued the destructive relationship and acknowledged the absurdity of her actions: "It was a stupid way of looking at life, but I knew no other, so I just endured what I had to, as long as it didn't affect my child." Following the couple's divorce, her ex-husband kidnapped their daughter taking her into war-ravaged Syria. Monahan bravely recounts this intimate family disaster with hopes her story will spark discussions about the rights of women in Muslim societies.
Customer Reviews
Unbelievable!
This book is unreal, what they went through is unbelievable!! I genuinely believe you couldn't have scripted a film as sinister and brave as this true story!!
Absolutely worth the read!!
WOW!!
What an amazing story! I couldn't put this book down, Louise is such a strong and courageous woman to do what she did in order to get her little girl back! Fantastic, gripping and tear jerking. I would LOVE to read more in the future and find out how things work out for Louise and May.