Note: this story was exposed as a hoax a few years ago. Apparently Norma Khouri only visited Jordan long ago as a child, and she made up almost this entire tale (and its characters; there was no real Dalia) as a scam to make money.

When contacted about the story by an American reporter who wanted to do a piece on honor killings, Khouri became evasive, and the reporter began to uncover the extent of the scam. Faced with discovery, Khouri cut off contact with the reporter and moved to a different state.

This is not to say that honor killings don't happen. But this book, which was presentd as a true story of that horrible practice, is basically just a lot of melodrama and lies.

In the end, it seems that Khouri simply wanted to make money by shocking readers in the West who wouldn't be familiar enough with modern Jordanian culture to smell a rat.

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Even though I had lived in the Middle East for 8 years, I found this book very interesting and thought provoking. An easy read, but important information we should all be aware of.

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Recently this books has become very controversial. At first, when it was just published, it was advertised as a true story. Later, after this book became a bestseller, the evidence was brought that the author fabricated her story. Despite the fact that Dalia may have never existed, there are some evidence of honor killings in Jordan.
I really enjoyed this book. Take it as fiction (with some truth to it).

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It is true that his story was exposed as a hoax a few years ago. Apparently Norma Khouri visited Jordan as a child, and subsequently made up almost this entire tale, characters and all. There never was no Dalia. All the characters were just made up.

When contacted about the story by an American reporter who wanted to do a piece on honor killings, Khouri became evasive, and the reporter eventually uncovered the extent of the deception. Faced with discovery, Khouri cut off contact with the reporter and moved to a different state to save some anonymity.

This is not to say that honor killings don't happen. And the story is wonderfully told with feeling and understanding of inner workings of the system. But this book, which was presentd as a true story of that horrible practice, is basically made up love story glued together from many stories a melodrama that is a letdown considering the underlying circumstances. Which explain the book ending and the lacy of detail.

In the end, it's hard to tell if it Khouri simply wanted to make money by shocking readers in the West. Readers who wouldn't be familiar enough with modern Jordanian culture. Or if her motives were truly about campaigning to help women in Jordan.

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I could not walk away from this book. The lives of these two young girls, as well as so many other Jordanian women, captured me and reminded me that the freedom i grew up with should never be taken for granted.

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