The title says it all – a ten-year-old divorcee. This is the tale of 10-year-old Yemenese girl Nujood sold to a man 3 times her age. The book is short – she tells of her family’s struggle which led to the decision to marry her off, and how she managed to escape and go to a court. What I found precious about this book is how her pain and suffering was downplayed and not capitalized on. Instead the book highlights her tenacity and courage. I don’t want to read yet another sappy Middle Eastern biography and weep to the atrocities men can do; I want to read of triumphs against patriarchial domination. The biography ends with how Nujood becomes an inspiration to other girls in the same situation. It was heartwrenching to see that kinds of situations those young girls are put in, but at the same time I rejoice because they now have a voice of an age peer who is slowly sweeping the world not with her tale as only a victim but one as a survivor.
I’d say this book is a must-read for this year.
On one hand I want to respect all cultures and religions, on the other hand, some of it is just bullshit.
Sigh.