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Home books Biography and Memoir

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Desert Flower

by Waris Dirie

Harpercollins Publishers | October 15, 1999 | Trade Paperback

Based on 11 ratings | Rate this

Waris Dirie leads a double life -- by day, she is an international supermodel and human rights ambassador for the United Nations; by night, she dreams of the simplicity of life in her native Somalia and the family she was forced to leave behind. Desert Flower, her intimate and inspiring memoir, is a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered about the beauty of African life, the chaotic existence of a supermodel, or the joys of new motherhood.

Waris was born into a traditional Somali family, desert nomads who engaged in such ancient and antiquated customs as genital mutilation and arranged marriage. At twelve, she fled an arranged marriage to an old man and traveled alone across the dangerous Somali desert to Mogadishu -- the first leg of an emotional journey that would take her to London as a house servant, around the world as a fashion model, and eventually to America, where she would find peace in motherhood and humanitarian work for the U.N.

Today, as Special Ambassador for the U.N., she travels the world speaking out against the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation, promoting women's reproductive rights, and educating people about the Africa she fled -- but still deeply loves.

Desert Flower will be published simultaneously in eleven languages throughout the world and is currently being produced as a feature film by Rocket Pictures UK.

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Entertaining & Educational
by Paula Aird
9 years ago

I learned all about life as a pastoral nomad; the origin of Frankinsense mentioned in the Bible as one of the gifts to the infant Jesus; the fact that the southern region of Somalia had been colonized by Italy. The most poignant part deals with female circumcision.I could have wept for these girls. Having experienced life in both the East and West, the author ends her story very philosophically. She speaks of the importance of family and community, stating that the most valuable asset of life, other than life itself, is health. Well done! A similar conclusion is echoed in What Goes Around... by Paula Aird.