Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail (Oprah Edition)

Book Description
Malika Oufkir has spent virtually her whole life as a prisoner. Born in 1953, the eldest daughter of General Oufkir, the King of Morocco's closest aide, Malika was adopted by the King at the age of five, and was brought up as the companion to his little daughter. Spending most of her childhood and adolescence in the seclusion of the court harem, Malika was one of the most eligible heiresses in the kingdom, surrounded by luxury and extraordinary privilege. Then on August 16th, 1972, her father was arrested and executed after an attempt to assassinate the King. Malika, her five siblings, and her mother were immediately imprisoned in a penal colony. After fifteen years, the last ten of which they spent locked up in solitary cells, the Oufkir children managed to dig a tunnel with their bare hands and make a daring escape... though they were recaptured after only five days of freedom. Malika was finally able to leave Morocco and begin a new life in exile in 1996. Stolen Lives is a heart-rending account of resilience in the face of extreme deprivation, of the courage and even humor with which one family faced their tormented fate. A shocking true story, it is hard to comprehend that it could have happened in our own times.

Product Description
Malika Oufkir has spent virtually her whole life as a prisoner. Born in 1953, the eldest daughter of General Oufkir, the King of Morocco's closest aide, Malika was adopted by the King at the age of five, and was brought up as the companion to his little daughter. Spending most of her childhood and adolescence in the seclusion of the court harem, Malika was one of the most eligible heiresses in the kingdom, surrounded by luxury and extraordinary privilege. Then on August 16th, 1972, her father was arrested and executed after an attempt to assassinate the King. Malika, her five siblings, and her mother were immediately imprisoned in a penal colony. After fifteen years, the last ten of which they spent locked up in solitary cells, the Oufkir children managed to dig a tunnel with their bare hands and make a daring escape... though they were recaptured after only five days of freedom. Malika was finally able to leave Morocco and begin a new life in exile in 1996. Stolen Lives is a heart-rending account of resilience in the face of extreme deprivation, of the courage and even humor with which one family faced their tormented fate. A shocking true story, it is hard to comprehend that it could have happened in our own times.

FROM OUR EDITORS

On August 15th, 1972, Malika Oufkir was probably the most privileged teenager in all Morocco. The eldest daughter of King Hassan II's top aide, she had been raised in the opulent seclusion of the monarch's harem. But within 24 hours, her father would be tried and summarily executed for treason, and she and her entire family would be arrested and imprisoned in a remote desert penal colony. For the next 20 years, her accommodations would only grow worse.

Malika Oufkir's memories of her 20-year incarceration -- most of it in vermin-infested solitary confinement -- rivets your attention and educates your senses.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Malika Oufkir has spent virtually her whole life as a prisoner. Born in 1953, the eldest daughter of General Oufkir, the King of Morocco's closest aide, Malika was adopted by the King at the age of five, and was brought up as the companion to his little daughter. Spending most of her childhood and adolescence in the seclusion of the court harem, Malika was one of the most eligible heiresses in the kingdom, surrounded by luxury and extraordinary privilege.

Then on August 16th, 1972, her father was arrested and executed after an attempt to assassinate the King. Malika, her five siblings, and her mother were immediately imprisoned in a penal colony. After fifteen years, the last ten of which they spent locked up in solitary cells, the Oufkir children managed to dig a tunnel with their bare hands and make a daring escape ... though they were recaptured after only five days of freedom. Malika was finally able to leave Morocco and begin a new life in exile in 1996.

Stolen Lives is a heart-rending account of resilience in the face of extreme deprivation, of the courage and even humor with which one family faced their tormented fate. A shocking true story, it is hard to comprehend that it could have happened in our own times.

SYNOPSIS

A gripping memoir that reads like a political thriller--the story of Malika Oufkir's turbulent and remarkable life. Born in 1953, Malika Oufkir was the eldest daughter of General Oufkir, the King of Morocco's closest aide. Adopted by the king at the age of five, Malika spent most of her childhood and adolescence in the seclusion of the court harem, one of the most eligible heiresses in the kingdom, surrounded by luxury and extraordinary privilege.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booklist

An extremely effective and graphic picture of what evil is like from the vantage point of its most innocent victims.

Time Out New York

Stolen Lives is a riveting and profoundly affecting account of survivval that, while life-affirming, never sinks to cliched reassurances about the human spirit.

Washington Post Book World

Gripping memoir....the reader is left in awe of Malika Oufkir, who relates her story in plain but moving prose, and who wrestles with ambivalent emotions toward her past.

Glamour

Oufkir's harrowing memoir details the unfathomable conditions [her family] endured and the remarkable will and sense of humor that kept them alive.

Cosmopolitan