“You are in every page I turn In every word I write All the birds here chant your name. I am nothing without you.” When Joanna al-Askari read these wonderful words from the man she loved, little did she know what joy—and challenges—would await her when she joined him in marriage and in the fight for Kurdish independence. While Iraq is everywhere in today’s headlines, the story of the Kurdish people and their struggle for survival under Saddam Hussein is one that has remained largely untold—until now. In this incredible true love story, bestselling author Jean Sasson shares Joanna’s personal journey of fear and fortitude through a Baghdad childhood and life as a Kurdish freedom fighter during the Iran-Iraq War. From the threat of Iraqi patrols and raids to chemical attacks and bombings, Joanna reveals how she and her husband survived extreme physical danger as they made their way through Kurdistan’s perilous mountains and beleaguered villages to seek temporary safety in Iran.   Inspiring and unforgettable, Love in a Torn Land shares Joanna’s passionate and unflagging determination to survive and fight—for love, life, and the freedom of her beloved Kurdistan. Sasson, author of Princess: A True Story of Life behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia (1992) and ayada: Daughter of Iraq (2003), focuses on the story of Joanna Al-Askari Hussain, a Kurdish woman living in Iraq, to tell the broader story of ethnic tensions between the Kurds, Iraqis, Turks, Iranians, and Syrians. Written in the first person, Joanna's story covers her romance with a Kurdish freedom fighter, marriage, and taking up the struggle against the Iraqis herself. She recalls times of raining dead and injured birds after a missile attack and of a desperate flight after her village was attacked by Saddam Hussein's forces in 1987. Some 200,000 of her fellow Kurds were killed in a genocide campaign. Photographs and personal recollections--a wedding without the groom, a husband who hogs the covers, the adjustments of a pampered woman to a life of privation and personal demands--offer a very human look at the struggle of the Kurds in Iraq and one woman's heroism. Vanessa Bush Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved As a young girl living in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Joanna al-Askari had a dream: to fall in love with a Kurdish freedom fighter and join the battle for Kurdish independence. In Love in a Torn Land, bestselling author Jean Sasson tells the remarkable true story of how Joanna lived that dream, surviving nightmarish struggles in pursuit of love and her cherished goal of freedom for the Kurdish people. Raised in Baghdad by an Arab Iraqi father and a Kurdish mother, Joanna spent a childhood filled with fear and uncertainty under the brutal Baathist regime, tempered by joyful summers spent with family in Kurdistan. She shares the girlish excitement of meeting a dashing young Peshmerga fighter at age fifteen, which began a campaign for love that would prove almost as consuming to Joanna as her dream of Kurdish freedom. She also recounts the gritty details of life as a young Peshmerga wife in Kurdistan during the darkest days of the Iran-Iraq War: the horror of being temporarily blinded from a gas attack by Saddam's forces, the terror of dodging Iraqi patrols as she and her husband tried to flee to safety, and the desperate search for a missing relative in an Iranian refugee camp. Again and again, Joanna meets defeat with determination and faces hardship with hope as she navigates the dangers of an Iraq filled with informers, midnight raids, secret police interrogations, and barbaric prisons. Through her eyes and her love for her husband, the splendid world of Kurds and Kurdistan comes alive. From the breathtaking beauty of the mountains and colorful flowers dotting the roadside to feasts, singing, and dancing, Love in a Torn Land offers a captivating portrait of an amazing land and a fascinating culture. Gripping and inspiring, Joanna's tale of tragedy and triumph is a moving testament to the power of love, the strength of the human spirit, and an unflagging will to prevail against the odds. As a young girl living in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Joanna al-Askari had a dream: to fall in love with a Kurdish freedom fighter and join the battle for Kurdish independence.  In Love in a Torn Land, bestselling author Jean Sasson tells the remarkable true story of how Joanna lived that dream, surviving nightmarish struggles in pursuit of love and her cherished goal of freedom for the Kurdish people. Raised in Baghdad by an Arab Iraqi father and a Kurdish mother, Joanna spent a childhood filled with fear and uncertainty under the brutal Baathist regime, tempered by joyful summers spent with family in Kurdistan. She shares the girlish excitement of meeting a dashing young Peshmerga fighter at age fifteen, which began a campaign for love that would prove almost as consuming to Joanna as her dream of Kurdish freedom. She also recounts the gr