Mona Al-qesi

Angels on Her Shoulders: an Iraqi Woman's Tale of Survival Mona Al-qesi

Mona didn't see it coming. Even as her husband navigated the car through the streets of Baghdad, he balled up his fist and punched her squarely in the face. Her only offense: she had stated the truth. As a woman with an independent spirit, Mona Al-Qesi comes into conflict with what society expects of her. Repeatedly abused, controlled, and degraded, she feels that her existence doesn't deserve to be called a life. Her love for her daughter and stepchildren gives her the strength to persevere. When the 1991 Gulf War reduces Baghdad to rubble, her personal problems pale in comparison with the struggle to stay alive. Following the bombings, and with Saddam Hussein's reign of terror escalating, Mona and her family clandestinely resettle in Europe. Thus begins a journey filled with cultural misunderstandings, both tragic and hilarious. Be enlightened by Mona's forthright descriptions of Arab culture and bolstered by her courage, as you join her and her family on this eye-opening odyssey.