A review by _inge_
De gouden kooi by Zainab Salbi
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I've been meaning to read the story of Zainab Salbi for a long time. I knew about her through the organisation she founded, Women for Women International, which helps empower women in (post) war areas rebuild their lives.
The story she tells in this book is very interesting, it gives an inside look into the Iraq of Saddam Hussain from the point of view of a family that was in his inner circle - though not of their own choosing. Zainab was a child during this time and pieced together a lot of what really happened by the time she was already out of Iraq. The origin story of Women for Women is included, good to see how that organisation came to be.
It's hard to not let my admiration of the person cloud my judgement of the book. I think it is an interesting story and definitely worth reading, but there is a bit of repetition in the book. Some parts of the story are told in a detached way, we don't always really get to see the personal impact beyond the things that happened. Still, recommended read.
The story she tells in this book is very interesting, it gives an inside look into the Iraq of Saddam Hussain from the point of view of a family that was in his inner circle - though not of their own choosing. Zainab was a child during this time and pieced together a lot of what really happened by the time she was already out of Iraq. The origin story of Women for Women is included, good to see how that organisation came to be.
It's hard to not let my admiration of the person cloud my judgement of the book. I think it is an interesting story and definitely worth reading, but there is a bit of repetition in the book. Some parts of the story are told in a detached way, we don't always really get to see the personal impact beyond the things that happened. Still, recommended read.