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At the age of 5, Malika Oufkir, eldest daughter of General Oufkir, was adopted by King Muhammad V of Morocco and sent to live in the palace as part of the royal court. There she led a life of unimaginable privilege and luxury alongside the king's own daughter. King Hassan II ascended the throne following Muhammad V's death, and in 1972 General Oufkir was found guilty of treason after staging a coup against the new regime, and was summarily executed. Immediately afterward, Malika, her mother, and her five siblings were arrested and imprisoned, despite having no prior knowledge of the coup attempt.
They were first held in an abandoned fort, where they ate moderately well and were allowed to keep some of their fine clothing and books. Conditions steadily deteriorated, and the family was eventually transferred to a remote desert prison, where they suffered a decade of solitary confinement, torture, starvation, and the complete absence of sunlight. Oufkir's horrifying descriptions of the conditions are mesmerizing, particularly when contrasted with her earlier life in the royal court, and many graphic images will long haunt readers. Finally, teetering on the edge of madness and aware that they had been left to die, Oufkir and her siblings managed to tunnel out using their bare hands and teaspoons, only to be caught days later. Her account of their final flight to freedom makes for breathtaking reading. Stolen Lives is a remarkable book of unfathomable deprivation and the power of the human will to survive.
Book Description
A gripping memoir that reads like a political thriller--the story of Malika Oufkir's turbulent and remarkable life. Born in 1953, Malika Oufkir was the eldest daughter of General Oufkir, the King of Morocco's closest aide. Adopted by the king at the age of five, Malika spent most of her childhood and adolescence in the seclusion of the court harem, one of the most eligible heiresses in the kingdom, surrounded by luxury and extraordinary privilege.
Then, on August 16, 1972, her father was arrested and executed after an attempt to assassinate the king. Malika, her five younger brothers and sisters. and her mother were immediately imprisoned in a desert penal colony. After fifteen years, the last ten of which they spent locked up in solitary cells, the Oufkir children managed to dig a tunnel with their bare hands and make an audacious escape. Recaptured after five days, Malika was finally able to leave Morocco and begin a new life in exile in 1996.
A heartrending account in the face of extreme deprivation and the courage with which one family faced its fate, Stolen Lives is an unforgettable story of one woman's journey to freedom.
Customer Reviews:
Incredible Story - Deserved Better Editor.......2007-09-10
I am very disappointed in some of the reviews that I have read about this book; thank goodness they are the minority. Yes, I agree that it was poorly edited, and the story that was being relayed really could have been told better. It disturbs me that some of the reviewers almost appeared to attack the author. This lady is not an author/writer; she's no Stephen King or Dan Brown. Those authors have the advantage of fiction on their respective sides. Malika Oufkir had no such advantage. She is a survivor who had to actually live the hell that she describes in her book.
Imagine being a political prisoner - your only crime being that you were related to someone who either did something terrible against the country or "allegedly" did so - you are living in conditions of squalor. Your captors want you to die, but don't want to necessarily pull the trigger. You are starved, not allowed outside, not allowed to see or feel the sun, and deprived of the most basic information such as the date and time. You watch your sister pick the rat droppings from pieces of stale bread before "happily" consuming it. You watch your three-year old brother's life as a political prisoner. That's what you lived for most of two decades. Finally, years after being released, you get the courage to tell your story so that the world has a chance to know what you have been through, and that political imprisonment is not the cake walk or country club behind bars that it has been touted through the years. For months, you fight through the tears and the recollections of the circumstances and events that above all, you mostly want to forget. Then, proud that you were able to clear that final hurdle, you read the book reviews on Amazon only to find that one reader finds the book "difficult to believe" and even "boring." The nerve of some people to sit in their air conditioned homes with their refrigerator and freezer full, to sit at their computer with access to the world, to not be able to look past the flaws of the book to see the real story. If this was fiction, I could see the criticism, but given the storyline and the simple fact that it was fact, I simply cannot justify attacking the author about the quality of the book. Her experience has forever changed her and her reaction to life itself.
Bottom line - this was a riveting story that could have been a riveting book. I give the story itself 5+ stars. I hope Ms. Oufkir and her family are proud that they survived such an incredulous nightmare. I was left wanting more information, but I personally feel fortunate to have received what information I got; Ms. Oufkir didn't have to put her ordeal in writing. The editing gets one star. The editor and publisher failed Ms. Oufkir and should be ashamed that her story was not given the very best attention to detail. It almost seems as though the book was rushed to go to print, and Ms. Oufkir's story suffered the consequences. And that is a real travesty.
Survival Story.......2007-08-30
Because of her father's treachery in attempting to assassinate the king of Morocco, Malika, her mother, her siblings and two family friends are imprisoned in the desert. For years they live in tiny cells infested with bugs and mice who battle them for their near-starvation rations. Finally they make a desperate move to tunnel out of their prison and alert the international news media of their imprisonment, which puts sufficient pressure on the king to free them.
Malika's life wasn't always so bad, though. In fact, when she was five, the king adopted her to live in the palace as a companion to his daughter. Although she missed her family and felt trapped in her life as royalty, Malika was well fed and well brought up and had all of the luxuries life could hand out to a child. This makes her subsequent imprisonment all the more shocking, especially as it is at the hands of her adopted family.
I found this book a bit scattered. The author would state in passing something she would then address later, which gave me the feeling of a great deal of jumping around. She also tries a bit too hard to make a connection between life in the palace and life in prison, which I thought was more than a small stretch. Although the author argues that she was never really "free" to do what she wanted while living with the royals, what child ever is free to do what he or she wants? There were few incidents of her being treated cruelly while growing up, and she wanted for nothing, yet she tried to paint herself as a poor sad little child. This tended to make me feel less sorry for her, rather than more.
The part of the book dealing with the family's prison life was horrifying almost beyond belief, yet was dealt with in such a casual tone of voice that I found it hard to get as outraged and sad as I felt I should have been. Something about the tone of the book just didn't strike the right note with me.
Boring Beyond Belief.......2007-07-04
There is nothing "gripping" about this book. The beginning of the book, the tale of life with the King, is interesting. Once the family is arrested and incarcerated, it becomes boring beyond belief - and this is the part of the book that should be riveting! Instead, I found the narration totally self-centered and the "story" absolutely colorless. I quit reading about page 138 (just after the escape) because at that point I could have cared less what happened to this family. The travesty is that these events were real and I should feel outrage and compassion for this family. Instead, I'm annoyed I spent money on this horribly written/edited/translated book!
Stolen Lives.......2007-05-28
I found this story to be an inspirational account of a young girl's struggle from the palace to a jail cell. The orginial controversy of punnishing children for their father's actions developed the story into a thrilling drama. It was a compelling and gripping story, but they way it was written was a little off. Some of the sentances were difficult to read because of the way the words were written. I did not like how the writer kept jumping to the past and present to explain events. This made it confusing to determine what details were current and which already occured.
Disliked.......2007-05-18
I read the book for a book club. I was disappointed. The story was very self-centered. Also,difficult to believe, but a bit boring.
Product Description
The title says it all! This extensive volume of transcriptions offers a collection of the names of the emigrant ancestors of many thousands of American families. In the ample introduction, Mr. Hotten states his "object is simply and briefly to point out some of the causes which contributed to the early emigration of English families to America; and then to estimate the practical value of the contents of the present volume as a means of assistance in making genealogical researches in the mother country." Transcribed records include: a multitude of ships' passenger lists; indexes of the Patent Rolls; lists of the living and dead in Virginia (February 16, 1623); musters of the inhabitants of Virginia; lists of convicted rebels (Monmouth Rebellion of 1685) sent to the Barbadoes and other plantations in America; Barbadoes Parish registers with birth and death records, lists of inhabitants, and landowners; and much, much more. A seventy-two-page full name index greatly enhances the value of this outstanding genealogical reference book.
Product Description
Malika Oufkir has spent virtually her whole life as a prisoner. Born in 1953, the eldest daughter of General Oufkir, the King of Morocco's closest aide, Malika was adopted by the King at the age of five, and was brought up as the companion to his little daughter. Spending most of her childhood and adolescence in the seclusion of the court harem, Malika was one of the most eligible heiresses in the kingdom, surrounded by luxury and extraordinary privilege. Then on August 16th, 1972, her father was arrested and executed after an attempt to assassinate the King. Malika, her five siblings, and her mother were immediately imprisoned in a penal colony. After fifteen years, the last ten of which they spent locked up in solitary cells, the Oufkir children managed to dig a tunnel with their bare hands and make a daring escape... though they were recaptured after only five days of freedom. Malika was finally able to leave Morocco and begin a new life in exile in 1996. Stolen Lives is a heart-rending account of resilience in the face of extreme deprivation, of the courage and even humor with which one family faced their tormented fate. A shocking true story, it is hard to comprehend that it could have happened in our own times.
Customer Reviews:
a sad but true novel..........2006-09-06
i like the realism, the truth about dictatorism, i just wanted to say that i am very sorry, sorry in the name of all the Moroccans, for what happened to this family and these kid.
KIDS SHOULD NEVER BE PART OF A WAR AND POLITICS!!!!!!!
Great novel Malika and thank you for sharing your story with us
you are all women's muse, you are our hero.
i wish you all the happiness in the world and can't wait to read "Freedom"
GOOD STORY...BAD WRITING....BAD EDITING..........2005-01-21
This is a book that on its face held a lot of promise. Any story in which a mother and her children, as well as faithful family retainers, are unjustly imprisoned in squalid conditions for twenty years for an ostensible crime comitted by the familial patriarch would certainly be of interest. Wrong! This is a tepid and disappointing book, poorly written and, most certainly, poorly edited. It is so filled with contraditions and inconsistencies, as to create somewhat of a credibility gap for the reader.
The story revolves around the Oufkir family, who were, at one time, a prominent, highly respected, and well known Moroccan family. Their story is told by Malika Oufkir, who is the eldest daughter of the late General Oufkir, who was executed in August 1972, immediately following an aborted attempt to assassinate King Hassan II of Morocco, for whom he was the Minister of Defense. General's Oufkir's treasonous action was the catalyst for the tragic turn of events that were to engulf his family.
After the aborted coup, the General's immediate family was placed under house arrest and four months later, along with two loyal family retainers who volunteered to share their fate, were whisked away to the first of several desert prisons that were to house them for the next fifteen years.
As Malika tells it, hers was initially almost a fairy tale story. Brought up in luxurious surroundings, she suffered early heartbreak when, at the age of five, she was separated from her family and "adopted" by then King Muhammad V, so as to be a live in playmate for the King's daughter. This adoption is never really explained, and one has no idea what her parents' thoughts were on this issue. Malika lived in the Palace in the lap of luxury for many years. As a teenager, however, she moved back with her family, where, there too, she continued to live a very privileged life, steeped in luxury and money.
After the Oufkirs' circumstances changed, theirs is truly a tragic story. There is little doubt that the conditions in their desert prisons were deplorable and squalid. With inadequate sanitation, insufficient food, no medical care, or educational provisions, the family was truly living a life of privation. Cutoff from the outside world, as they were, they truly were disenfranchised.
Their escape from their last desert prison, an escape that brought their plight to the consciousness of the public, was amazing. But for their escape, there is no doubt in my mind that they would still be languishing in a desert prison today, barely alive, if not already dead. I salute their determination and ingenuity in making a deperate break for freedom.
The problem lies in the telling of the story, which is so poorly told. Many things are left unexplained. No effort is made to ground the events that led to their family's downfall in a historical context. Whatever Malika said seems to have been what went into the final draft of this book, even if she contradicted herself a page or two later, which is the main problem with the book. There are so many inconsistencies with what Malika herself says, that the discerning reader is left to question much of what she represents.
Malika comes across as a somewhat self-absorbed, vapid woman to whom fate dealt a harsh and unusually cruel hand. Her self-absorption is most evident in that she barely acknowledges the sacrifice of the two faithful family retainers, who voluntarily shared their fate, nor does she discuss the impact that this had on them. It is also a little disconcerting that more does not come through about the perceptions the other family members had about this hellish experience. Their insight might have provided a little more balance and interest to the narrative. In the hands of a good writer and and excellent editor, this book might have withstood scrutiny and met expectations.
Sorry, Oprah, your book club selections are usually excellent. This one fails to make the grade.
Book Description
Powerful and passionate, Stolen Continents is a history of the Americas unlike any other. This incisive single-volume report tells the stories of the conquest and survival of five great American cultures — Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee, and Iroquois. Through their eloquent words, we relive their strange, tragic experiences — including, in a new epilogue, incidents that bring us up to the twenty-first century.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best.......2007-01-01
Wright's focus on five native groups- following their history from European contact until the present day- is an ingenious technique, allowing him to serves to create a narrative which is both sweeping yet full of personal detail. The groups also illustrate the extraordinary diversity of indigenous America. As the subtitle indicates- Wright uses native sources as much as possible, uncovering some rare material- such as a dialogue between Aztec priests and the Catholic Spanish establishment. Iv'e read many works on Native history; this was unique in how it juxtaposed such seemingly diverse images; from Spanish friars burning Mayan manuscripts to the Cherokee developing their own script and newspapers through white influence...
An interestingly different take on accepted history.......2006-10-31
This is a great book, make no mistake. It is very easy to follow without dumbing down at all.
The book looks at the histories of five peoples of North and South America since Columbus landed in 1492: these are the Aztec, Inca, Maya, Iroquois and Cherokee. The book is divided into three parts, namely 'Invasion', 'Resistance' and 'Rebellion'. Each part is then divided into five chapters, each detailing the role of each indigenous nation in each aspect (Invasion etc).
Ronald wright has uncovered a variety of sources that are barely known, most probably because wherever possible he tried to cite native sources rather than European ones. His very valid point of view is that the people of European descent have been telling the stories for long enough and it's time the indigenous peoples should tell their own histories.
The books covers ground most people are familiar with in terms of the history of the Americas; the 'conquests' of Mexico and Peru by Cortez and Pizarro in particular: but we hear it from the side of the Aztecs and Incas wherever possible. The fall of Tenochtitlan is particularly moving in the same way that the resistance of Manco Inca is particularly rousing. Where the book detracts from most other histories is that it openly states that the 'conquests' were and still are ongoing to varying degrees - it didn't all end after a few battles.
The 'Resistance' part of the book is very interesting as it deals with the current day: how if Guatemala were truly democratic it would be a Mayan republic (no the Mayans didn't disappear); modern Peru is a shoddy European infrastructure built upon an abiding native base. The politics of contemporary USA and even more remarkably Canada leave a lot to be desired given the history of very recent rebellion (1990) of the Mohawk (part of the Iroquois Confederacy).
This book is a very good introduction to someone wanting an alternative and perhaps more honest version of the history of parts of the Western Hemisphere over the last 500-odd years.
So What's New.......2006-03-03
A reasonably straight relating of the remaining history of the rape of two continents. I found the Epilogue and the Afterword the most interesting parts of the book. It is unfortunate that the practises of the past are still being perpetrated by the governments of the various major powers
Product Description
PaleoJoe, side kick Shelly, and new friend Dakota go on a dinosaur dig and discover that someone is trying to steal Stegosaurus bones.
Customer Reviews:
A wonderful story with real paleontology.......2007-07-31
I saw the author PaleoJoe at a library presentation and he was excellent. The kids loved him and had to get his books. This is the second book in the series of chapter books--kid of like a Dinosaur CSI-- and the first 3 were all fantastic and we are waiting for the 4th. I read them with the kids and like them, too. If you or your kids like Nate the Great, its a sure hit and the perfect progression into longer chapter books.
Customer Reviews:
READ THIS BOOK.......2006-02-06
If you don't read any other book on the Holocaust, don't miss this one. There are short chapters, which are a blessing, because you need to pause every few chapters to digest what you read, recover your wits, and return to read again.
If I could meet Ms. Zyskind, I would hug her and thank her for sharing the memories of her life before the war and atrocities she and her fellow survivors went through. It made me think about the survivors I've known in my life with a different understanding. Thanks to Ms. Zyskind, anyone who reads and shares this book will never forget.
Sad, shocking and exciting.......2004-02-12
When I first picked up this book for a book report I thought okay, whatever but when I started reading this book I really got into it. It was really hard to imagine that there were actually people that could do things like that to people. I literally cried at the begining and end of the book. I could almost see her family write before my eyes. I definetly suggest that you read this book of a young girl and her trials as her teenage life evaporates before her. On another note if you read this book then I suggested that you buy a box of tissues and keep them with you whenever you read it.
Moving and unsettling.......2003-03-07
Stolen Years is a moving, captivating and unsettling novel. It is the story of survival during the holocaust, written first hand by Sara Zyskind, then Sara Plager. Her words are powerful, and the story almost unbelievable. IT's something you have to experience for yourself.
Read this review, it is important!.......2002-04-09
Stolen Years is a fabulous story about a young woman during the holocaust. She had lead a very priviliged life, her father as a talit maker... and her mother as loving and caring as any could be. This is her account of life in the Ghetto, which she lost many loved ones, and later on in Auschwitz. This shows the many pains and hardships of Jews during the Holocaust. I am fascinated by the Holocaust, because no matter how many memoirs, and novels I read about this topic, I can never quite grasp what really happened. I am a minority, so I try my very best to read novels about slavery, the holocaust and similar topics. Let the truth be told! No matter how many books read about such things, you should NEVER stop reading them... you cannot cover up history, and expect any change. Let us open our eyes to what happened... and never do it again.
What took place in the Holocaust was WRONG... and I thank all of those people with enough courage and strength to tell the world about it. Thank you, and bless your heart!
Stolen Years.......2002-03-13
This is one of the very best Holocaust books I have ever read. It took you through almost all aspects of the Holocaust. It was heart-wrenching, graphic and compelling. A truly lost treasure of the Holocaust. I wish that it was a well-known and often read book for the Holocaust.
Average customer rating:
- A Chicago gangster era tale.
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The stolen years,
Roger Touhy
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When Capone's Mob Murdered Roger Touhy: The Strange Case of "Jake the Barber" and the Kidnapping That Never Happened
ASIN: B0007E4TPG |
Customer Reviews:
A Chicago gangster era tale........2005-09-14
Roger Touhy was a bootlegger, gangster and rival to Al Capone in the northwest suburbs of Chicago during Prohibition. What sets Touhy apart from other men of his era is the fact that he became a sympathetic victim of injustice. Mr. Touhy tells his tragic tale in the words of a street wise guy of his time. These are not the words of a ruthless criminal, but of an intelligent, witty man who could have been a success at legitimate businesses, but was lured by the easy money he could make selling bootleg beer. The book also gives an account of the plight of Irish immigrants in the slums of Chicago in the early 1900's and a tragedy that occurred when Roger was a child that may have contributed to his outcome. Three weeks after Touhy was exonerated and freed from prison in 1959, he was gunned down in an ambush. His killers were never found. Some have speculated that the release of "The Stolen Years" lead to his murder. Roger and 4 of his brothers, dubbed the "Terrible Touhys", were an integral part of the story of Chicago's Roaring 20's. I recommend this book to anyone interested in this era.
Average customer rating:
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The Stolen Years (Light Line Series)
Gloria Repp
Manufacturer: BJU Press
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Night Flight (Light Line Ser.))
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Book Description
David Durant and his sister Susan arrive in St. Louis at the invitation of a cryptic letter given to him by an aunt before she died. Instead of the welcome he had hoped for, however, he faces an embittered grandfather, the mysterious disappearance of his family's silver pistols, and the fear-filled memories evoked by a small airplane named 55 Charlie.
As David searches for the pistols and wrestles with his private fears, he learns about trusting God--first to take control of his life, and then to heal the bitterness of the years that have been stolen from them all.
Product Description
In 1994, the world could not have imagined the nightmares innocent Rwandan citizens would face as 800,000 people were murdered. With the hatred still building between tribes, thoughts of reconciliation and forgiveness seemed impossible. How does one forgive someone who has wiped out your whole family and any shred of hope? In this moving look at Rwanda, author Meg Guillebaud recounts the captivating story about the forgiveness people found when healing seemed impossible.
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