Helpful Score: 3
Note: this story was exposed as a hoax a few years ago. Apparently Norma Khouri only visited Jordan long ago as a child, and she made up almost this entire tale (and its characters; there was no real Dalia) as a scam to make money.
When contacted about the story by an American reporter who wanted to do a piece on honor killings, Khouri became evasive, and the reporter began to uncover the extent of the scam. Faced with discovery, Khouri cut off contact with the reporter and moved to a different state.
This is not to say that honor killings don't happen. But this book, which was presentd as a true story of that horrible practice, is basically just a lot of melodrama and lies.
In the end, it seems that Khouri simply wanted to make money by shocking readers in the West who wouldn't be familiar enough with modern Jordanian culture to smell a rat.
When contacted about the story by an American reporter who wanted to do a piece on honor killings, Khouri became evasive, and the reporter began to uncover the extent of the scam. Faced with discovery, Khouri cut off contact with the reporter and moved to a different state.
This is not to say that honor killings don't happen. But this book, which was presentd as a true story of that horrible practice, is basically just a lot of melodrama and lies.
In the end, it seems that Khouri simply wanted to make money by shocking readers in the West who wouldn't be familiar enough with modern Jordanian culture to smell a rat.
Helpful Score: 1
Even though I had lived in the Middle East for 8 years, I found this book very interesting and thought provoking. An easy read, but important information we should all be aware of.
Viktoriya B. (shpriz1) reviewed Honor Lost: Love and Death in Modern-Day Jordan on + 38 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Recently this books has become very controversial. At first, when it was just published, it was advertised as a true story. Later, after this book became a bestseller, the evidence was brought that the author fabricated her story. Despite the fact that Dalia may have never existed, there are some evidence of honor killings in Jordan.
I really enjoyed this book. Take it as fiction (with some truth to it).
I really enjoyed this book. Take it as fiction (with some truth to it).
