Zana Muhsen - Sold

review by Maggie Perkovic on show 13th October 2011

THE BOOK "SOLD" BY ZANA MUHSEN IS QUITE SHOCKING IT TELLS THE STORY OF ZANA ND NADIA BORN TO PARENTS OF YEMENI ORIGIN WHO MADE THEIR HOME IN BRITAIN AND AT THE AGES OF 14YEARS AND 15 YEARS WENT TO THE YEMEN ON THE PROMISE OF A LOVELY HOLIDAY AMONG THE SAND AND SEA AND PALM TREES ONLY TO FIND THEIR FATHER HAD ARRANGED TO SELL THEM TO RELATIVES WITH SONS OF MARRIAGABLE AGE OUT THERE FOR THE SUMS OF £1.300 POUNDS EACH!! FOR TWO FUN LOVING GIRLS FROM BIRMINGHAM THEIR LIVES BECAMEA LIVING NIGHTMARE AND AS THEY WERE MOVED FURTHER INTO VILLAGES WHERE NOTHING HAD CHANGED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, ZANA DETERMINED TO GET BACK TO HER MOTHER AND FREEDOM.
BEFORE THEY WERE BORN THE FATHER HAD ALREADY TAKEN THEIR OLDER BROTHER AND SISTER OUT TO THE YEMEN TO LIVE WITH THEIR GRANDPARENTS, TELLING HIS WIFE HOW MUCH LOVED THEY WOULD BE AND WHAT A HAPPY LIFE THEY WOULD HAVE, ONLY MUCH LATER WOULD THE FACTS EMERGE THAT THEY WERE TREATED VERY BADLY!!!
FOR A LONG TIME THE MOTHER WAS IGNORANT OF HER DAUGHTERS' WELFARE, ANY LETTERS WRITTEN WERE NEVER DESPATCHED TO HER UNTIL ZANA FOUND AN ENGLISH SPEAKING DOCTOR IN THE VILLAGE WHO UNDERTOOK TO SEND A LETTER TO HER MOTHER AND SMUGGLE A REPLY BACK TO ZANA.
FINALLY AFTER LOTS OF HARD WORK FROM HER MOTHER THE INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT FOCUSSED ON THE GIRLS SUFFERING, AND IT SEEMED AT LAST THEY COULD ESCAPE, BUT BY THEN ZANA HAD TWO CHILDREN, AND ONLY ZANA WAS GIVEN PERMISSION PROBABLY BECAUSE
SHE HAD NEVER SUBMITTED TO HER SLAVERY, DESPITE BEING BEATEN AND MADE TO WORK FROM DAWN TO DUSK EVEN WHEN VERY PREGNANT, HER MOTHER IN LAW NEVER TOOK TO HER!!
SHE HAD TO LEAVE HER YOUNG SON BEHIND, BUT LEFT HOPING WITH PRESSURE FROM COLLECTIVE GOVERNMENTS SHE WOULD BE ABLE TO COLLECT HIM AND ALSO FREE HER SISTER WITH HER CHILDREN.
review by MAGGIE

Zana Muhsen - A Promise to Nadia

Zana Muhsen (with Andrew Crofts) - A Promise to Nadia
review on show by MAGGIE PERKOVIC, 13th Oct 2011.
THIS BOOK REPEATS A LOT OF THE FIRST EDITION "SOLD" BUT THEN IT CONTINUES THE HEART BREAKING SAGA OF TRYING TO GAIN ACCESS TO NADIA, TO SEE HER AND HER CHILDREN, BOTH ZANA AND HERR MOTHER BRING THEIR PLIGHT TO PUBLIC ATTENTION WITH THE FIRST BOOK, AND WITH INTERVIEWS ACROSS THE WORLD.
WE SEE CORRUPTION IN THE EMBASSIES, WE SEE PROMISES BROKEN, AND MOST TRAGICALLY WE SEE HOW NADIA'S SPIRIT IS BROKEN BY CONSTANT BULLYING, CONTINUAL PREGNANCIES UNTIL WHEN THEY FINALLY DO SEE HER SHE INSISTS SHE IS HAPPY AND SETTLED IN YEMEN AND HAPPY WITH HER LIFE, ONLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT HER EYES AS SHE APPEARS ON THE COVER PHOTOS AND SOME INSIDE THE FIRST BOOK You REALISE HOW COMPLETELY VANQUISHED SHE IS. THEY TRY DESPERATE MEASURES, USING MONEY FROM THE SALE OF THE BOOKS TO PAY SOME SO CALLED MERCENARIES WHO OFFER TO SNATCH NADIA AND HER CHILDREN, BUT WHEN THEY HAVE RECEIVED IN PAYMENT FROM ZANA AND HER MOTHER THEY DISAPPEAR WITHOUT EVEN TRYING TO HELP AS PROMISED.
AS THEIR MONEY DRIES UP AND THE INLAND REVENUE DEMAND TAX ON UNDECLARED EARNINGS
DOES ZANA REALISE SHE WILL NEVER RESCUE HER SISTER.
SHE KNOWS SHE IS ILL AFTER SO MANY PREGNANCIES AND NO PROPER AFTER CARE AND WONDERS JUST HOW LONG SHE WILL SURVIVE.
SHE HAS SEEN ONE PHOTO OF HER SON WHOM SHE HAD HOPED WAS TO LIVE WITH NADIA BUT
AFTER SHE LEFT HE WAS SENT TO MAKE HIS HOME WITH OTHER RELATIVES.
HER CLOSING LINES ARE THAT SHE HOPES SOMEONE READING THE BOOKS MIGHT FINALLY BRING HOPE THAT NADIA COULD BE RELEASED.
ZANA BLAMES THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT FOR NOT HELPING THE GIRLS WHO WERE BRITISH NATIONALS AFTER ALL, AND WONDERS IF IT WAS BECAUSE OF THEIR ETHNIC BACKGROUND??
QUITE DEPRESSING READS IN SO FAR AS THERE IS NO HAPPY ENDING, AND ON THE EVIDENCE NOT LIKELY TO BE.
review by Maggie
showhost note: one reviewer saw a 'post' which said that Nadia & her family returned to the UK in 2003......? This is unconfirmed but said to have come from a friend of the mother. We can only hope that one day there will be a happy ending.