The Stoning of Soraya M.: A Story of Injustice in Iran
by Freidoune Sahebjam (Author), Richard Seaver (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (663)
Soraya M.’s husband, Ghorban-Ali, couldn’t afford to marry another woman. Rather than returning Soraya’s dowry, as custom required before taking a second wife, he plotted with four friends and a counterfeit mullah to dispose of her. Together, they accused Soraya of adultery. Her only crime was cooking for a friend’s widowed husband. Exhausted by a lifetime of abuse and hardship, Soraya said nothing, and the makeshift tribunal took her silence as a confession of guilt. They sentenced her to death by stoning: a punishment prohibited by Islam but widely practiced.
Day by day—sometimes minute by minute—Sahebjam deftly recounts these horrendous events, tracing Soraya’s life with searing immediacy, from her arranged marriage and the births of her children to her husband’s increasing cruelty and her horrifying execution, where, by tradition, her father, husband, and sons hurled the first stones. A stark look at the intersection between culture and justice, this is one woman’s story, but it stands for the stories of thousands of women who suffered—and continue to suffer—the same fate. It is a story that must be told.
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Print length162 pages
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Review
Starred Review. An unforgettable indictment, brilliantly written and translated, of man s inhumanity to woman and of tyranny disguised as righteousness.
Starred Review. Profoundly disturbing. . . . highly recommended.
About the Author
Freidoune Sahebjam, the son of a former Iranian ambassador, is a journalist who was sentenced to death in absentia for his undercover reporting criticizing the Iranian government. He lives in hiding in France.
Product details
ASIN : B00CKXAJW4
Publisher : Arcade
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : 27 April 2011
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From Australia
Sharon Keogh
5.0 out of 5 stars Unimaginable
Reviewed in Australia on 14 July 2019
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To read this is to have your eyes opened to a world so removed from my own that I had to remind myself it was a true story. A story that time has not dulled or lessened its ability to shock.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Education👏👏👏👏
Reviewed in Australia on 17 May 2024
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Education.👏👏👏👏
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donna
5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful read
Reviewed in Australia on 17 March 2017
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I could not pull this down once I began reading. It was a glimpse into a world that I knew little about. It is an emotionally charged account that left me wondering how these men could live with themselves. The author skilfully demonstrates the unquestioned power that fundamental religious zealots can hold and the atrocities they can be responsible for.
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I~stop~for~suffering
3.0 out of 5 stars Scary because this is real life in some countries
Reviewed in Australia on 10 November 2019
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It's definitely an eye opening read - because this still happens in some countries. It's scary to think that you can be stoned to death with no proper legal process, no rights, and no equality. The book itself was reasonably well written for a documentary style summary of the events.
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Siena
5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing
Reviewed in Australia on 12 August 2019
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Whilst I found this book confronting I enjoyed it. I can’t believe this happened so recently in Iran, not a place to visit in my opinion.
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Amazon Customer tornatna
4.0 out of 5 stars Shocking story with no regard to the female gender
Reviewed in Australia on 1 March 2017
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Horrible, inhuman, no respect for the female gender and all in the name of Allah
Females are treated as slaves or chattle eye opener
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Patricia Filby
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read ......
Reviewed in Australia on 21 June 2020
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This shocking and heartbreaking story is giving people across the world information that, horrifying though it is, must be known before anything is able to be changed.
I feel unable to put into words any more than that, except to commend the author for highlighting the cruel and unjust way women in some cultures are. treated.
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From other countries
Valerie S
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking .
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 June 2020
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This book is a real eye opener to what life is like for some, if not all Muslim women, where male domination is the norm and corruption in the judicial system abounds . There are many Atrocities committed through out the world in the name of religion. Sorayas story is just one .
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Danny Edwin Nicholas
5.0 out of 5 stars The Purity Myth is a bloody trail.
Reviewed in the United States on 16 May 2011
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How do you give five stars to a book on a small town execution? Freidoune Sahebjam has written an insightful and brave account of an event unimaginable to most of us. I found this book helpful in showing me once again what a deadly infection fundamentalism can become and how this sickness can overtake an entire town in one afternoon. Indeed, to value purity over simple things like life and love and truth will always lead to death and heartache. Even more so if God is mixed in. This is the message of Sahebjam's book.
This paperback can be read in one sitting and was penned by a French born and raised son of an Iranian Ambassador. It remains to this day a banned book in Iran, a country and culture not that far removed from a similar but different ethnic cleansing style fundamentalism I saw in Israel, Egypt and Palestine this week where I finished this book and wrote this review while on pilgrimage, amidst a backdrop of guns and soldiers and a chopper overhead. Muslims killing Christians and burning churches in nearby Egypt while we were there. Same old same old. We took in some 7,000 Jewish soldiers pointing assault rifles at Palestinians in the Holy Land, in Jerusalem, near the Western Wall, not far from the site and on the same day one Palestinian youth was shot and killed as I just learned from an airport monitor. We heard the gunfire over the wall. 34 were arrested; 12 killed the day we took off. Same old same old. Sad.
But back to our small town in 1979. Soraya was a mother and wife married to an archetypal creep of a man who went so far as to bring to his own house prostitutes in order to insult his wife and offload his marriage; a man unwilling to count the cost of an honorable divorce. The religious execution plot was hatched by a man willing to make murderous co-conspirators out of neighbors and friends he'd known since childhood.
Indeed Soraya's story was for me more than just another evil account of a befouled patriarchy. It was a death road telling of male politics and power trumping the basic spiritual values of truth, love, human kindness and the purity of a simple smile. On the flip side, this ritual and religious killing story and how it happened is also a tale of the courage of a loving aunt and niece against a male collusion of lust and lies. It's a story about divorce and love and sex, power and money. Your basic movie themes. But this one really happened. It was for me a story also of love and beauty and truth and a woman willing to risk the friendliness of a smile she was known for and would eventually cost her everything. So yes, buy this book. It will energize you on the dangers of fundamentalism, energize you perhaps to speak up early when you see the demon of false purity coming your way. That's my take.
Sure, this work, now in English, could have been written and translated a little better, especially since it just came out in a new edition. But it is a miracle the story ever saw the light of day in the first place. I suggest you see the Netflix 2008 Lionsgate title (starring Aghdashloo and Marno directed by Nowrasteh.) The violence of bad religion in that film will be even more real for you if with images to hang words on as you read.
For a companion study I'd recommend The Purity Myth by a young, 4th wave feminist, Jessica Valente. Like The Stoning of Soraya M., the focus of purity mongers (usually men) remains women and almost always mixes in religion. Bad religion. And of course politics. Purity rants always get around to being about sex--female sexuality and the purity of women. This was certainly the theme in that small, unnamed village outside Tehran three decades back during post-revolution Iran. The author uses fictional names for the people and town and region for obvious reasons but the work reads like journalism. Sahebjam describes himself, in fact, as a journalist and a theologian.
Through the introduction and book jacket you'll learn that some 1500 women have been stoned in the last twenty five years in the Middle East. OK, some men were stoned, too. But not many. Mostly it's women and mostly it's death dished up around the purity concept. Around evil, around sin. Yes, religious purity. And honor, too. Usually family or town honor. Far more effective and powerful than simply the us/them theme which serves as the engine of most wars. If you fancy yourself spiritual or religious and you have doubt about the price of walking down the purity road, read the story of Soraya. And as you read, I'd advise against the temptation of seeing this problem as only an Islam thing. It was for me far more than that. For me this book was about fundamentalism, those who say they want purity--not theirs, of course, but mine. And about a culture which does not value purity of heart so much as superficial, legalistic easy to go after purity so often aimed at others and specifically, women.
My takeaway from this book: reaching for purity and sinlessness anywhere but in your own heart and life will lead to death most every time. Indeed, who can throw a stone but a man or woman truly pure within.
In this book it's the men who throw the stones, of course. Not a pretty story line. But just as many women stood by and let it happen. No woman in that town but Soraya's aunt paid the price of speaking up. Silence remains an equally bloody stone.
One could go on and on about the price of trying to bring back 7th century Islam. Instead, read this book if you've ever gone to confession in your church and forgotten how you judged someone else rather than yourself in the past week; judged someone else as sinful or impure.
Soraya's story indeed brought back for me the fear of freedom thing that Jack Nicholson's character showed us in Dennis Hooper's Easy Rider classic, how an us/them deadly hate thing was alive in the South then and probably now; how it flowers in a mortal wound well beyond the death of Captain America back in the day. The same hate is alive and well now, of course. Same old, same old.
I don't mean to soft peddle real problems with Islam. In Egypt, where 90% are Muslims and 10% Christians today, in recent months and weeks Eastern Orthodox Copts have been shot (monks even) and killed. And 84% of the population in Egypt today still believes that should one convert from Islam to Christianity he deserves to be executed. Of course stoning is the ancient way to get the job done here.
It's been 30 years since Soraya's brutal death in Iran at the hands of 250 religious people in her village. There's a picture of her in this book. Read it for her and the white dress she wore that day. You'll feel awful but at the same time better. Because you'll know her story.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Movie is better than the book!
Reviewed in India on 17 January 2025
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I don't blame the writer as some journalists do not possess the art of writing an intriguing but gruesome story. They are limited to hardcore reports. Hence the writing style misses that pathos, melancholy, but whoever watched the film, they can only feel the pain of Soraya (however, only by reading you can just condemn the act, but can't feel the pain, horror that little woman had gone through).
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Abuse of Women
Reviewed in Canada on 12 August 2020
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This book is heartbreaking. It disgusts me that women are treated this way still. This is religion?
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voracious reader
4.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening
Reviewed in the United States on 26 September 2011
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A glimpse into a totally different world. The story takes the reader back to things as they were hundreds of years ago, that still happen today in small Iranian villages. It's terribly sad and somewhat graphic. However, I'm very glad I read it to keep me mindful of other parts of the world and how men treat women. This is well worth reading.
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Lydia Rudland
4.0 out of 5 stars The Stoning of Soraya M
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2013
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Very thought provoking narrative. Would recommend to all women, and men, who are unsure about what is happening to women in this part of the world.
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avionnightmare
4.0 out of 5 stars The movie of this true story will break your heart!
Reviewed in Canada on 28 October 2013
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Usually, I will read a book first, than see the movie, and be disappointed in the movie. Oddly, I saw the movie first, and I felt overwhelmed with the strong emotions brought out, by how real the characters, and the story were portrayed. To this day, I will never forget some of the moments in it, (and I wish I could). The book somehow, seemed to fall a little short of this, simply because I think it is too short. It did not seem to draw the reader into the drastic events the same as the movie did. These are true events that will shock your inner core. Be thankful of where you live, and the freedom that you have! Highly recommend the MOVIE, and if not, read the book.
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AvidReader
5.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing and enlightening book.
Reviewed in Canada on 9 October 2019
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A frightful story based on true event that essentially illustrates how easily humans can perpetrate mob violence, even when their friends or family are the target. Very well written and gripping. I read it through in one sitting. Thanks to the author for being brave enough to write this story.
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Maureen Meil
5.0 out of 5 stars Horrifyingly Sad and True Story - Well Written
Reviewed in the United States on 5 March 2026
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Horrifying book in light of what is going on today! Thank God they got rid of him!! I lived in Iran for some time in 1978 and it was a very scary situation. I was lucky to have gotten out! Well written. I had seen the movies when it first came out some years ago. Upsetting, to say the least.
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Books R Best
5.0 out of 5 stars THIS WAS A BOOK TO REMEMBER FOR A LIFETIME
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 April 2016
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I cried when I read this book and it also made me very angry. It’s good for western women to be reminded that women are barely above cattle class in the wider world. To some, it may be an unbelievable story, but these things happen, all the time. You want to go on a crusade to put a stop to it all and shake some sense into the men who perpetrate such deeds in the name of a religion or honour or whatever excuse they come up with. I know this book would not have a happy ending before I started reading, no Hollywood twist on the final page. This is one book I will never forget, but I’m not sure I have the courage to read it a second time without going out on a crusade. Brilliant book everyone should read.
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Karen
3.0 out of 5 stars Sad
Reviewed in Canada on 15 October 2018
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Pathetic that this type of thing still happens
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Tigerpaw357
5.0 out of 5 stars appreciate freedom vs. Soraya
Reviewed in the United States on 22 February 2026
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It is a sad book that is informative of cultural differences and the position of females who for many centuries have no voice -
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Mr.k.a..jafri
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 March 2017
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just read it half way- so far sounds Authentic- will write more after i comlplete the book
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Roch Leclerc
5.0 out of 5 stars Intense story
Reviewed in Canada on 22 February 2024
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This book, tell the story of a Iranian woman struggle with the inequality of old laws versu reality of modern society.
It outline the treatment of woman in a dominated men society.
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Mal McK
5.0 out of 5 stars Barbaric
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2019
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As I sit in a beautiful Turkish town, watching all the hustle and bustle of the locals, the young girls dressed so prettily and the men so handsome, I have difficulty equating what I am reading with these free souls. Do they really share the same beliefs? I think not. The barbarism that Sorayah suffered is incomprehensible to me and I'm sure to most citizens of this planet. What sort of faith would allow this to happen? We live in a world so rotten and corrupt no wonder we are imploding. The reason for Sorayah's execution is surely the most disgusting ever written about? Although I am an atheist, I do hope she went to a better place and her vile accusers rot in whatever hell awaits them . Religion? No thank you.
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Katherine O'Brien
4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Story with a real Community of Characters...
Reviewed in the United States on 30 April 2016
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Such a tragic story; it's heartbreaking to know that this is still part of cultures around the world. Told very directly and honestly, I became attached to the story and kept thinking (or hoping) that perhaps the ending won't be so horrific', even though the book's title clearly crushes that hope. I also connected to Soraya because we are both mothers, and my heart ached for her and the children she was raising even at the time she was murdered. Difficult read, but these are the stories that need to be told so that our awareness of them can help create change.
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Missy Lea
5.0 out of 5 stars Read the book first
Reviewed in the United States on 19 September 2025
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I saw the movie and felt compelled to read the book. So much deceit happened to rid the world of a beautiful soul. A woman who was pious and held on to her beliefs. Thank you to the Author for writing this. Women face so much horror and suppression and why? Jealousy.
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Mrs. W
4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 September 2013
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Watched the movie and then had to get the book. A true and very very sad story a must for people who enjoy true crime/biographies. The story itself is one of injustice and frustration and recognition of the dreadful things that happen to women without laws to protect them
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jikes
4.0 out of 5 stars This is a journalist’s retelling of a horror
Reviewed in Canada on 5 May 2023
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I couldn’t put it down, despite the horror unfolding. A tale of ignorance, blind obedience. greed and evil all conspiring to condemn an innocent woman to a hideous death. Not for the squeamish
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Sherrie Lamoureux
5.0 out of 5 stars it’s a heart pounding disbelief and true event.
Reviewed in Canada on 25 June 2018
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The story itself is a true sad story of injustice and how the community is easily beguiled into agreeing with a dishonest man who have take his sons mother away from then over his selfish behaviour.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking brutal account of her murder
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2019
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This film was bought after reading about this, it will make you think about the subject matter portrayed in this film and the injustice that these women have to endure, when her own sons are turned against their mother, by their father ,her husband, shocking brutal account, heartbreaking to witness.
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars OMG, This is Truly Gruesome!
Reviewed in the United States on 17 May 2024
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I have read some rough things in my life but this takes the cake. I don't know if it is entirely historically accurate or has taken on a mythical caste over time. I also question the dialogue since the author did not witness the events. But I am sure such things have happened in the past and perhaps still are going on in some cultures. To pray to a deity who is "compassionate and merciful" after the deed was done is quite the height of insensitivity and hypocrisy as well as just plain cruel. I won't even go into what I think of mob blood thirstiness and patriarchal rules that condone such behavior.
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Olive
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on 10 September 2018
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A very disturbing story..well written though.
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BFPSOON
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put book down
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2013
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I really got into this book, I had it read in only a few hours, it really affected me, I felt her pain. The story was told well. Saddens me to think this goes on in the world. I watched the film after, but the book was much better.
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Sivie
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in the United States on 25 March 2026
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Everybody should read this book.
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melody
5.0 out of 5 stars Unanswered questions
Reviewed in the United States on 5 November 2025
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I had seen the movie and thought I should read the book. It was easy read and I did so in less than one day. I was disappointed in only the fact that I don't know whats true or fiction from the movies stand point. Did they ever truly realize she was innocent as the movie portrayed? Or did they still believe her to be guilty of her crime. I was really hoping to get more answers to questions i had left from the movie. Oh well. Still a must read but read it first then watch the movie.
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Boingboing
2.0 out of 5 stars A story about a woman that's mostly about men
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 February 2017
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It is unusual for such a short book to be both too short and too long.
This book either needed to be twice as long and to actually consider the life and feelings of poor Soraya in a lot more depth (actually it's so superficial as to be almost pitiful) or to be half the length and leave out the padded stories of the corrupt men who plotted to kill her. It's presented as a true story but told in a way that doesn't build credibility. Did a woman get stoned in a small Iranian city? Yes, of course, but if not this particular woman then many others. Is the conspiracy of the men involved true? If it's not then it's still very believable. But how could the author 'know' about the life of the fake holy man who seals Soraya's fate if the story were told to him by her aunt who could not have known those details?
It's a nasty story of male domination and greed but without sufficient feminine insight. Soraya is a silent cardboard cut-out who exists only for men to exploit her. Only her aunt brings any colour and three dimensional perspective.
The tale needs to be told - a woman set up and killed for economic benefit. A husband bored with the woman who has carried his multiple children. A husband too keen to get rid of her but unwilling to pay back her dowry which would be due if he divorced her. So much cheaper to accuse her or infidelity and get her stoned so that he's free to marry again and keeps all their goods.
The most shocking part is where Soraya's father throws the first stone, her husband the second, and her two oldest sons soon after.
The tale is quite old now - having taken place in 1986, less than a decade after the revolution. It's unclear how much relevance it has to Iran in 2017.
I wasn't aware that the book had been made into a film and I do feel a certain curiosity to see the film (it's available for a rental deal on Amazon downloads for about a pound) but I found the book rather flawed. Either write fact and research it meticulously, or be open about what's been fabricated. Don't leave readers wondering what's what.
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Casey Marie
4.0 out of 5 stars A difficult but necessary read
Reviewed in the United States on 17 February 2015
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Just as Pat Tillman gave a face to the countless and needless military casualties in Afghanistan, Soraya's tragedy personalizes the stoning of over 1,500 women in Iran over the course of the last 25 years. Sahebjam's biography is a compelling account, but it is not, however, an easy read, as the violence is stark, gratuitous with the author leaving no detail unexamined.
Written in 1986, in the wake of the Islamic Revolution, this account of the brutal execution of an innocent woman illuminates, once more, the extent to which religious fervor, regardless of sect or creed, can be manipulated for personal gain and emptied of any moral integrity. Although Soraya was stoned, theoretically, in accordance to Islamic dictums, her aunt astutely notes that her fate is the outcome of "the law of men, the law that men make and say it is the law of God."
My only problem with this biography lies within the preface, as I would have preferred an update to the 2011 edition, detailing how the political climate and relative position of women in society has changed since the original manuscript.
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vcatania
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking
Reviewed in the United States on 25 July 2012
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A couple of years ago I saw the movie the Stoning of Soraya M. The book had not been re-released yet (it was pulled off the shelves for several years), but I preordered almost immediately after watching the film. This book exposes the darkest side of extremism. The story will break your heart, and then break it again. The hardships this woman faced, and women continue to face in remote villages in the middle east are terrifying and should make us all grateful that our (women's) lives are held as precious and not disposable. As a mother I read this book thinking of the children that were affected and touched by Soraya M.'s life, as woman I imagine her pain and despair when she is cast aside for something "better".
Many may find this book (and the movie) difficult to read/watch. Many will not finish it, but for those of us that were able to fight through the tears to the bitter end, we learn valuable lessons. Sometimes honesty is not enough. Sometimes love is not enough. Sometimes this world is cruel and unfair. Please take caution when reading this book or watching the movie, it is not for children (it is barely for adults). It deals with and details horrific acts and horrible situations and does not have a "happy" ending.
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CheckItOut
5.0 out of 5 stars Very sad story and well told story but there is implicitly also a warning in it about Islam
Reviewed in the United States on 2 February 2023
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The ad above says "They sentenced her to death by stoning: a punishment prohibited by Islam but widely practiced." Afraid it's not prohibited by Islam but in fact called for by Sharia (Islamic law), and a Hadith has Muhammad calling for it, and it is still officially practiced in some Muslim majority countries. The story shows the tendency to brutal male domination especially in rural Islamic societies but it's the women-degrading Islamic teachings that can be exploited by evil men to bring about such atrocities that have happened to many thousands of women. The book "The Violent Oppression Of Women In Islam" By Robert Spencer and Phyllis Chesler goes into the teachings.
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Bonnie S.
4.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down but hard to read
Reviewed in the United States on 11 September 2011
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I just finished reading this book and have to say it was stomach churning. There were many times that I had to change the book on my Kindle to get away from the horrific treatment given to Soraya.
I imagine the time this woman spent with her aunt allowed the aunt the ability to "know" and therefore tell the journalist how she was feeling as she walked to her death.
Although this happened 30 years ago it is not hard to envision this happening in current day Iran or in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. Woman must continue to decry the treatment given to all under the guise of religion.
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Anita L. Gaston
5.0 out of 5 stars Brings tear to my eyes to think of this book
Reviewed in the United States on 5 December 2012
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This is a must read book. I saw the movie and knew I wanted to read the story too. If more people are made aware of the difficulties the woman of the muslim nation face perhaps we would rise up to lend a helping hand so that no other women would have to endure what Soraya did. I applaud her aunt who had the courage to tell the story to the news reporter who by the grace of God was careful enough to get out and get this story told. How many more woman may have suffered only not to have their plight told. What they did to her and how even her sons and own father treated her is appalling. Have a box of tissue near by I can't see anyone not shedding a tear for Soraya M.
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Professor
5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing Important Read
Reviewed in the United States on 18 November 2024
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Excellent reporting. It is easily understood why government officials seek to silence their critics for allowing the abuse of women and girls.
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Barbara
5.0 out of 5 stars So Sad
Reviewed in the United States on 5 July 2022
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What a sad commentary on life that such an event could still take place in the world. Events such as these go unnoticed by the outside world. Horrific does not even begin to describe the stoning that took this young woman’s life. A story that is well written, leaving nothing to the imagination. Hard to read the actual stoning event without cringing.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Injustice = Understatement
Reviewed in the United States on 24 March 2015
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This story or rather life so quickly taken broke my heart. I feel as though I lost one of my own children. I am forever grateful to live here in the United States and to have freedom as a woman. I can not imagine the amount of fear and horror these woman and children live with day in and day out. I also have a new found deep respect for my husband who not only loves me but takes care of me so well. I pray for Iranian women and for those who stories we haven't heard. May God have mercy on that land.
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Cat Lover
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, compelling, awful story
Reviewed in the United States on 7 October 2015
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Horrifying tale, but elegantly written in a sparse tone that kept me locked into reading it straight through. I applaud the journalist/writer for bringing this story - and the reality of stonings that have happened to other women, in other locations - to light.
The description of the actual stoning was very difficult to read, but don't turn away - it is by people turning away and refusing to understand what a stoning really means, what it really does to a human body - a human being - that these hideous events are permitted to continue.
Hoping desperately that one day, these kinds of horrible tragedies stop forever...
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SeDr
5.0 out of 5 stars would have liked to have understood more about why Soraya was so silent in her plight
Reviewed in the United States on 28 June 2013
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would have liked to have understood more about why Soraya was so silent in her plight. Perhaps it was battered wife syndrome from being beaten by her husband and eldest sons frequently. I would have liked to have understood why she didn't pursue more against them; obviously her Aunt Zahra had a lot of influence and might could have helped her. Furthermore, I would like to have known more about what happened after her death and if any punishment was ever given to her crooked husband and the demonic religious imposter of Kupayeh.
Book was in great condition, fast shipping, good price
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Tomboy Mama
5.0 out of 5 stars Tragic story that needed to be told...
Reviewed in the United States on 9 February 2015
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I saw the movie several years ago and wanted to buy the book as with every story you get more details from books. It arrived ahead of time, securely packaged and in mint condition. I have already started to read it and look forward to sharing Soraya's story with other people. I think it's important for everyone to step outside of the box and see what's going on in other parts of the world and this story sheds a grim light on practices that are still going on today.
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Sabra
4.0 out of 5 stars This should open your eyes to the truth of what ...
Reviewed in Canada on 31 July 2016
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This should open your eyes to the truth of what happens in a muslim home & village. So heartbreaking, I watch the film as well. Get the box of Kleenex, the ending will break your heart.
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Harobed
3.0 out of 5 stars Not tightly written, but well worth reading
Reviewed in the United States on 11 May 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
The book tells an extremely important story about conditions in Iran after the fall of the Shah, and helps to understand how religion can be perverted to serve nefarious ends among people without a strong religious education. However, I found the book hard to follow because of its structure and lack of close editing. It was, for example, not clear why certain people and events were described in detail but then not mentioned again until much later and in a different context.
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Susan Reed
4.0 out of 5 stars Unnerving and heartbreaking
Reviewed in the United States on 13 January 2018
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This book is an inside view of the life and death of a Muslim woman who was accused of being unfaithful to her husband. The obvious lack of proof and the primitive means of settling disagreement re minded me in part of "The Lord of the Flies".
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Patricia Sullivan
5.0 out of 5 stars difficult to read but necessary
Reviewed in the United States on 4 March 2013
Verified Purchase
I was almost afraid to begin this book since the subject matter is so horrifying. However, I believe we must never forget what the women of Afghanastan have/are living every day. I think the author did an excellent job describing the life/lives of the women in these small rural villages. I think he described the actual stoning event in a way that brought home the horror and brutality of it without making the violence sensationalized. He educated me.
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Emily
4.0 out of 5 stars I haven't read it yet, but...
Reviewed in the United States on 27 July 2011
Verified Purchase
Thank you so much for having this book available! I watched the movie last year or two years ago and could not find the book anywhere. The movie had me sobbing hysterically (and I'm not the type of person who usually cries, let alone sob hysterically) and I cannot wait to read the book. Thanks again, Amazon!
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Charl8
5.0 out of 5 stars Horrifying
Reviewed in the United States on 26 November 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
How do you rate something like this? Something that goes on weekly in countries where women have no rights. A young, innocent woman killed because of bigoted, ignorant, money-grubbing men. Don't get me wrong, I am not a woman's liberal or a man hater, but these men & others like them need to be stopped. God forbid this happen here.
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Tams
3.0 out of 5 stars Sad reality.
Reviewed in the United States on 13 April 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
A heartbreaking story, that opens your eyes to the inhuman reality we live in. It shows you in a clearer way how we humans, still behave like animals.
Nevertheless, I found a bit hard to identify and follow up with the people in question, specially to Soraya. I'm left up with a deep wish for all this unholy acts happening today "in the name of God" to stop.
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yusnaliza md yusop
2.0 out of 5 stars Questionable truth...fiction or fact?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 March 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I feel the book is fictional rather than factual. It overdevelop some character. The source of the story came from one person (Soraya's aunt) yet the history of the unknown Mullah was told rather intimately. It really feel like the storyline has been manipulated to make it saleable. The author refused to disclose the real identity of his source who had conveniently died two years after their encounter and before the book was released. All in all, it is really no telling either it is fact or fiction. Very frustuating
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Linda Lamoureux
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on 23 March 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Months later, I am unable to forget the images. A difficult and important read.
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Shirley Dutton
5.0 out of 5 stars A terrible story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2013
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Hard to imagine as we go about our everyday lives in the west that somewhere out there Muslim women like Soraya are living this nightmare everyday.Should be required reading for older children, A warning that human greed and lust can lead to horrific crime in the Muslim world,in the name of God.Read the book before you view the movie.
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Nana
4.0 out of 5 stars The condition of the book met my expectation.
Reviewed in the United States on 16 January 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Though used, the book is in very good condition.
I just started reading yesterday as I was finishing another one.
Usually as soon as I finish one book I give them to one of my friends, so far everyone complimented the conditions they are in.
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C. Shamp
5.0 out of 5 stars Horrible to read
Reviewed in the United States on 5 September 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Horrible to read; but an amazing read. So sad to say its true...and, this sort of thing and worse is happening every day in this world. Is a good eye opener for me as an American to show me just how good I have it compared to some others. We would call the Soraya a hero today for her bravery.
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Florence Axworthy
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on 19 April 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
I did enjoy the book, a bit difficult to understand these events could take place.
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Angelica Murillo
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it in one day. I couldn't put it down.
Reviewed in the United States on 11 January 2021
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Intriguing. Made me want to cry. I saw the movie. It leaves me to wonder if the husband did marry the other woman. Probably not... since he was mad at the end.
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Wy
4.0 out of 5 stars A very troubling story that gives an historical perspective to ...
Reviewed in the United States on 16 October 2014
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
A very troubling story that gives an historical perspective to the current culture in the middle east today. I read it in one sitting. It is horrifying the depths to which cultural dishonesty, disrespect and hatred can go.
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NCSutton
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book
Reviewed in the United States on 15 July 2010
Verified Purchase
This book is one of those that can not say you enjoy reading. The subject matter is so awful that it is hard to define your feelings. I read this story and it horrified me to think that in modern times it is still happening to women. It is barbaric to treat women this way and this book makes sure that we are all aware of the practice.
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Marge
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking
Reviewed in the United States on 31 March 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This is a true story, and very sad. It's well written and I could hardly put it down.This book is written by a man who was born in Iran, and is now living in France. Whenever I hear women's tales of "oppression " in the US I really have to wonder.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Not a comfortable book to read
Reviewed in the United States on 19 April 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
It is hard to comprehend the reality in which many women live in societies so different from the western world. This book raised my awareness and stimulated me to pray for women who live unloved, in fear and isolation. Not a comfortable book to read, but one I would recommend.
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Charlie
4.0 out of 5 stars Wow, what a story. Except it's not a ...
Reviewed in the United States on 15 May 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Wow, what a story. Except it's not a story, this happened. Ending was extremely difficult emotionally to read. I never knew how a stoning was done. Harsh.
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cathy
5.0 out of 5 stars You Will Never Forget Soraya: Excellent Story
Reviewed in the United States on 24 May 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This author's best book. A must read for men and women interested in the abuse of rights of women in the Middle Eastern setting. Also, excellent book for those who know nothing about atrocities like stoning to death. Riveting story, a clear style, even in translation.
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Bob
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting and informative book. I could not believe ...
Reviewed in the United States on 29 August 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Very interesting and informative book. I could not believe that such a primative form of justice would be practiced in todays day and age. This young women never did get a fair trial, and the punishment does not fit the cime if it was true. A barbaric religion.
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Jennifer
4.0 out of 5 stars The frightening part is the reason for Soraya's stoning and ...
Reviewed in the United States on 5 June 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
The frightening part is the reason for Soraya's stoning and that it took place in 1986. I will have my daughter read this.
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Valbrook
4.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking
Reviewed in the United States on 6 March 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Purchased this book for my 13 year old son to read for class project. Two years later he still
makes references to this sad, tragic story.
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Erika
5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone should read it
Reviewed in the United States on 22 July 2014
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Is a wonderful book a sad one but very good!!!.This are things happening this days, is horribly and monstrous what they did to her while she was completely innocent, I hope her ex husband burn in hell with all the one that lie to protect her ex husband...
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Kathy Hathaway
5.0 out of 5 stars The Stoning of Soraya M
Reviewed in the United States on 6 July 2011
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
An excellent account and example of unequality and injustice of women that exists in some cultures around the world in this current time. I had the opportunity to also view the DVD at the time I read the book which gave more meaning to how and why the book was written.
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Catlady
5.0 out of 5 stars A shocking TRUE story!!
Reviewed in the United States on 22 May 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This book was hard to read, and besides that it was true story!! So shocking that women would treated in such a VILE manner. Women should read this book!It gives U a really good idea how women are in the middle east.
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dlpkitties
4.0 out of 5 stars So sad
Reviewed in the United States on 23 April 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Women around the world are persecuted by evil men. One brave man decided to speak up up and let the world know.
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judith holbrook
4.0 out of 5 stars A sad and scary story
Reviewed in the United States on 22 May 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This story helped me understand how women are treated in the Muslim culture. It is so sad.
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Jeannie AlSalami
5.0 out of 5 stars Have a box of tissue ready
Reviewed in the United States on 18 August 2015
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This is a true story that will make you cry at the injustice this brave woman faced. Just another reminder to ALL women especially western women the that part of the world no matter where they go, men consider lower than animals.
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titia dubourcq
5.0 out of 5 stars This is really a dreadfull story. I heard about ...
Reviewed in the United States on 6 August 2015
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This is really a dreadfull story. I heard about it from my dental hygienist who is from Iran originally. Now she lives and was educated in the Netherlands and cannot imagine how this was all so normal in that country.
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Susan Clary
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 30 April 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Difficult for us to understand how completely powerless women are in some cultures.
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Blondeenkah
4.0 out of 5 stars A sad reality of woman in many parts of the world.
Reviewed in the United States on 10 October 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Everyone should read this or see the documentary.
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EDNA BLUNCK
5.0 out of 5 stars for shame!
Reviewed in the United States on 29 March 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
A very we'll told story through which I was desperately horrified and ashamed. What vile . . . .I don't know how to describe the evil that men will do . .. . .
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freethoughts
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 7 May 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Well written.. unbelievable subject...made me think..
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Ann Carlson
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read!
Reviewed in the United States on 30 May 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Excellent book. As you read it, you get angrier and angrier. The poor woman didn't stand a chance. And the movie is just as good. What's sad is that it's still going on.
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janice O.
5.0 out of 5 stars Speedy service
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2020
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Very emotional read, well written
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Carol H.
5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable
Reviewed in Canada on 18 February 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Disgusting barbarism beyond comprehension. So much for open borders!
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kvonjeney
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling read.
Reviewed in the United States on 28 June 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Engaging and disturbing tale of reality for women in positions of total political, legal, social, and interpersonal powerlessness
Tells of life and death under Sharia law after the Shah of Iran was ousted.
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Gabrielle Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking
Reviewed in the United States on 21 September 2018
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
How humanity has reverted to brutality in the name of Man & god, continues to astonish me. Yet we observe this day by day.
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Glojen
5.0 out of 5 stars Horrible injustice
Reviewed in the United States on 10 April 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
A very scary thought that this culture of people want to take over our civilized world. Will we stand by as the villagers did and destroy our own culture and civilization?
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D. T.
5.0 out of 5 stars Sad.
Reviewed in Canada on 8 March 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Unbelievable that a culture allows such atrocities.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Horrifying but realistic
Reviewed in the United States on 23 June 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Beautifully written.
A very rare glimpse of the injustice many women suffer in the middle east.
Hauntingly detailed, as if you were right there when it took place.
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Angie Gambrell
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 30 March 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Good read
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Aroosa Tabasum
5.0 out of 5 stars Changed me to a better human.
Reviewed in the United States on 30 September 2013
Verified Purchase
This book changed me from the core. I left religion and became a simple human, free of any hatred, any differentiation and malice. I look at people just as people and not in the colors of religion and faith.
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Nanny granny
5.0 out of 5 stars This book was an eye opener. So much evil ...
Reviewed in the United States on 21 February 2015
Verified Purchase
This book was an eye opener. So much evil and what Soraya and other women in that part of the world have gone and are still going through by such wicked men is unconscionable.
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O. Davies
5.0 out of 5 stars Haven't started reading this yet so unable to comment about ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 October 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Haven't started reading this yet so unable to comment about it. I have watched he film so hoping he book will be as good
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MRS SUSAN GOOD
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 September 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
OK
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Jane Pemberley
2.0 out of 5 stars Too slow
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 May 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Movie was much better.
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Margaret
5.0 out of 5 stars It is a good movie.
Reviewed in the United States on 17 October 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I have seen this before and wanted to see it again. It is a good movie.... However, it is sad that injustice such as this still happens.
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Kate Hamlet
5.0 out of 5 stars Well-Written and Heartbreaking....
Reviewed in the United States on 22 November 2011
Verified Purchase
This story will make your heart ache and will make you want to change our world. It was respectfully told and not glamorized. Soraya deserves to have her story told and I am very glad to have had the chance to read it.
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Ana
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 22 April 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Not as interesting as the movie. The book was too short because of a lack of many details.
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Lee Bennett
5.0 out of 5 stars One woman's encounter with Sharia law
Reviewed in the United States on 1 March 2015
Verified Purchase
a disturbing and gripping tale of one woman's difficult life and death The ending was a graphic description of death by stoning sad that people canparticipate in such a procedure
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Cynthia Richardson
5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening and educational
Reviewed in the United States on 29 March 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
It's hard to imagine this kind of behavior is going on in today's world. This is the kind of thing that goes on when women are not educated.
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Mac191
5.0 out of 5 stars The Stoning of Sprays M.
Reviewed in the United States on 12 January 2013
Verified Purchase
Without question, this is one of the most disturbing books I have ever read. It is a story, a warning, for all of us. We must all strive to put an end to this kind of barbarism.
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Tamara
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning & informative
Reviewed in the United States on 24 August 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Unsettling & painful to read but captivating and one that should be read by many in our current situation.
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