Not without my daughter door Betty Mahmoody

This autobiographical book tells the story of Betty Mahmoody, a woman married with an Iranian, Moody. They have a little daughter called Mahtob. Before the nightmare began they were a happy American family. Moody had a good job as a doctor and everything was normal. Moody booked a vacation to Iran, the country where he was born. Betty did not trust it totally, but when Moody swears on the Koran that he would never force her to live in Iran, she decides to go with him on a vacation for two weeks. When they arrive in Teheran, a city in Iran, Betty doesn’t like the country at all. She is shocked by the dirt, the police named the pasdar and the way women are treated. After two weeks in Teheran, Moody tells Betty and Mahtob that they will stay in Iran. Betty and Mahtob are forced by Moody to stay in the country. Moody became more aggressive and also hits Betty and Mahtob. His family has a great influence on him and he changes in a totally different man. Betty tries to escape from her man, but she must be very careful. It is not very hard for Betty to get out of the country, but she won’t leave without her daughter.
“I will never leave her here, I will not do it. If she is not going back I am not going back”
At the end, when they are more than 1 year and 4 months in Iran, Betty and Mahtob get the possibility to escape from their man and father. After a long and exhausting journey they reach Ankara, from where they can return to America.

Above a very short summary of the story, because there is so much to tell about this book.

I never have read such an exciting book as “Not without my daughter”, although I already knew the end of the book, because Betty wrote this book herself, so it was clear to me that she was been able to escape from her husband. I could project into the situation, but I can’t imagine that this is a true-happened story. The culture in Iran is so different from our culture and the culture in America. The way women are treated by their own man don’t fit in this century. And the story takes place from August 1984 till February 1985, so it happened not that many years ago. The women in Iran have to cover their arms, legs and forehead, but the cover their whole body with a so called chador, no matter what kind of weather it is, so also in the burning sun. Women must listen to their husbands, and are treated like slaves. If the husband dies, the children are raised by the family and not by the mother of the children. In the book there are a lot of examples of the inferiority of women.

Another different in culture is the religion of the people of Iran. They pray to Allah, their God, they pray almost the same way as people pray to God, but there are also other religious costumes. In the begin of the book Betty and Mahtob prayed to God, but after a while they also pray to Allah for a save return in America. This is a good example to explain the despair of Betty. She wants to try everything to escape from the hell where she and her daughter are living in, even pray to the God of her man, his family and the country she hates.

I am very glad I read this book although it tells a very shocking story. I can’t imagine how a father can put his wife and child in such a position, how a father can beat his wife and child and how a family can have such a great influence on a grown-up man. It makes you aware of the problems in the world and in foreign countries. Although we live at the end of the 20th century the emancipation of women isn’t excepted all over the world.