Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster
Release Date: 2003
ISBN: 0743448782
Awards:
Format Reviewed: Hardback, First Edition
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Read an Excerpt
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir
Reviewed: 2003
Reviewer: Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Reviewer Notes:

Honor Lost
Love and Death in Modern-Day Jordan
By Norma Khouri 

The Consequences of Rampant Discrimination
Intolerance Nurtured Plagues Much of the World

     By now, most people in the western world know about the so-called "Honor Killings" that are still condoned in the Arabic World. We are shocked, disgusted, and appalled.

     Honor Lost is a memoir: a first-person account of just one of those legalized murders in Jordan. Author Norma Khouri lived through the horror of seeing her best friend-a part of her heart, soul and life-cut down in her prime by her own family. That is an amazing story, but there is another. Ms. Khouri escaped to the West to tell about it.

     Jordan, a democratic country where such heinous crimes are not only disregarded but encouraged, is led by royalty that opposes these deeply-rooted customs, but is powerless to make a difference. Efforts by the UN and humanitarian agencies have also been ineffective. This author hopes to achieve what they can't with the power of her pen.
She tells her story and that of her beloved friend clearly and dramatically. Although the prose is not faultless, the story is as riveting as a finely-wrought novel, the language simple and honest. Khouri includes an afterword that explains the tribal beliefs and politics that foster this horrendous outcome of intolerance, along with short descriptions of similar documented cases from her country. She tells us that the practice is not declining, but growing. Her book ends with a section titled "Farewell" that seethes with the melancholy experienced by those who have no home.

     The book does not include a section offering steps that each of us might take to begin to mitigate these crimes against humanity. I know they exist. Perhaps this information will be addended in the next edition. Perhaps it could be placed on her publisher's Website, along with the excerpt they provide. Concrete suggestions would be the brilliant cut diamonds in the crown of Ms. Khouri's cause.

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