Rating: 
Summary: Simply written, Extremely moving
Review: Dalia's story is told by her best friend, Norma Khouri. The writing is simple, easy to read - not to wordy. The author simply tells her tale, and makes her point. There were a few conversations that didn't seem to ring completely true... but I have no doubt the emotion and feelings conveyed throughout those instances, and the whole book are. In it's quiet telling, the story of Dalia will touch you and make you think.
Rating: 
Summary: Michael was not a rebellious Romeo.
Review: As a Jordanian psychologist, I'd like to submit my present review to you, with all my thanks for this opportunity. The poor and 'sugary' teenage romance style isn't appropriate to narrate Dalia's TRAGIC life and convey the UNIVERSALITY of honour killings. Instead, the reader is sucked into the CONFINES of the PERSONAL life of Norma Khouri. Therefore, this book is Norma Khouri's PERSONAL DIARY (with a heavy dose of anti-arab and anti-islamic spin) that reflects her highs and lows whenever she 'took the pen', with -consequently- NO structure OR 'global picture' in this book. For this reason, professionally speaking, it made an interesting reading into the character and motives of Norma Khouri. But, I must confess, reading it was a test of endurance, concentration and patience, as I knew I was being taken for a ride! Norma Khouri writes that Michael applied for three visas to 'escape' to the west where he and Dalia would have 'married'; the third visa would have been for Norma Khouri herself who adds that the 3 visas were ONLY MONTHS AWAY before Dalia died. Such a statement DOES NOT RING TRUE for AT LEAST two logical reasons and one psychological fact about Michael. /FIRST/ if Michael indeed applied for these 3 visas then why did Norma Khouri not use her visa, once she got it SOON AFTER Dalia's murder? /SECOND/ Norma Khouri claims she was forced to wait for ANOTHER FIVE YEARS before getting a visa to move Greece then Australia. So the logical question is: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET A VISA, ONE YEAR OR FIVE YEARS? Norma Khouri doesn't seem to make up her mind for two simple reasons: /a/ Michael NEVER applied for those first 3 visas-as it'll be explained below.
/b/ Norma Khouri was NEVER threatened by her family with death so she stayed in Jordan for 5 years till she presumably got bored and headed towards Greece. A fellow Jordanian reviewer already touched upon this very issue so I leave it at that. /THIRD/ The explanation referred to in point /a/ is based on Michael's psychological profile as described IN THIS BOOK. Michael appears to be a man of traditions (despite of his stay in the west) whose allegiance is to his family (and to his tribe in the wider sense): even to meet Dalia and Norma Khouri (ONCE PER MONTH) he had to be 'supervised' by his sister. The fact that he did NOT rebel against this arrangement suggests that he was happy with seeing Dalia ONLY once per month with his sister as his chaperon. THIS IS NOT LOVE OR EVEN A DEEP FRIENDSHIP, NO MATTER WHAT THE AUTHOR CLAIMS! Therefore, one of the emerging psychological traits of Michael, from this book, is that he would leave the issue of love and marriage to his family for the FINAL say about his choice of future wife. He simply was NOT REBELLIOUS enough to plan to 'escape' to the west, against the wishes of his family, with Dalia or anyone else for that matter. REBELLION AND UTTER RESPECT FOR TRIBAL/SOCIAL TRADITIONS DO NOT GO HAND IN HAND - THEY ARE THE OPPOSITE OF EACH OTHER. So the conclusion is three-fold: First, Michael was NOT in love with Dalia who must have known it of course. Second, Michael, out of family loyalty, would NOT have applied for those first 3 visas, behind his family's back. Thirdly, it does NOT take five years to get a visa which means that Norma Khouri felt SAFE ENOUGH with her family to have stayed during those 5 years in Amman, before seeking a new life in the west. If Dalia's story is true - AND IT IS A VERY BIG IF, taking into account how Norma Khouri has proved cavalier with the truth in this book- Dalia died, not because it was the 'love story Jordan has ever witnessed' but because her family found her guilty by association with a mere flirt called Michael. Even if he were called Mohammed, it would not have made a slight difference in her father's paranoid mind. He was not consulted first. IN THIS RESPECT, NOT AS STRANGE AS IT SEEMS, DALIA'S FAMILY IS AS TRADITIONAL AS MICHAEL'S, ONE IS MUSLIM AND THE OTHER IS CHRISTIAN. Michael was not 'punished' by his family because he was chaperoned by his sister who vouched to her parents for the 'good conduct' of her brother when seeing Dalia and Norma Khouri who concealed this fact in her attempt of blaming Islam and the Muslims ONLY and shielding Michael from criticism by portraying his family as 'modern'! THE TRUTH IS THAT NORMA KHOURI AND MICHAEL ARE NOT BLAMELESS IN DALIA'S TRAGEDY. All in all, I am sad to say that Norma Khouri has taken her unsuspecting western readers for a ride. Norma Khouri's Jordan must belong to a parallel universe! May you rest in peace, dear Dalia! With kind regards to you all in Amazon.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book, which calls for a dialogue with other reviewers
Review: I thought this was a good book: short, well-written, and passionate in describing a father murdering his daughter. I note many, many very critical reviews, which I can understand as this book is very critical of a tradition apparently still practiced in Jordan. I would ask the other reviewers:
1. Is such honor killing immoral? If it is, then "there is good and bad in all countries" and "this book is only about a single personal experience" beg the answer to this question. Please, reviewers, write books about Western sins (for example, I believe our common culture is a cesspool), but I suggest we should not minimize the immorality of the practice of honor killing.
2. Did the author really "choose" to leave her country for good? If the book is to be believed, she was forced to leave for fear of being killed once her part in Dalia's relationship was found by her family.
3. If the book has inaccuracies, does it at least portray the nature of honor killings and the treatment of women accurately, in the final analysis?
4. Should Westerners be aware of the practice of honor killing? Should Jordanians be aware of Westerners' often immoral lifestyle? Yes to both. But I hear a lot of anger from many reviewers' pens about this book: I suspect some of it is because of errors in the book which is understandable, but some of it is anger at publicizing this horrific practice.
5. Why should Michael have converted to Islam in order to marry Dalia? I respect Islam not allowing inter-faith marriages for its believers. But should killing Dalia be the solution? I would hope the idea of books such as this one is to better understand each other, to persuade each other when a a terrible wrong such as honor killing is observed, and not just to shake our fists at each other from across the abyss. One good suggestion from reading those reviews: sounds like I need to read Queen Noor's book ....
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating
Review: I was fully engrossed in the reading of this book. I am usually not much of a reader, but once I picked this book up, I couldn't put it down. I knew I wanted to read this book when I heard Norma speak about it on the radio. It touched me in many ways. I hope she continues with her work for women's rights and that she finds inner peace.
Rating:
Summary: News from around the world vindicates the book
Review: I'm about halfway through the book, and it rings true. News I've read about the behavior of Arabic peoples in other areas of the world--in various liberal European countries, and in the US--is very similar: the stuff described in the book does seem to be a strong part of Arabic (tho certainly not all Muslim) cultures.
I like the writer's straight-forward style. I;m reading this book for its content, not style, and I like that it's very straight-forward and not polluted with all sorts of literary nonsense--nonsense that would dilute its message.
Rating:
Summary: Victimising Jordan and Islam with a passport to the west.
Review: As an immigration officer who has travelled and lived through the middle-east, I have found this book content doubtful, to say the least. The style deliberately constructed to manipulate the emotions of her readers has made me even more suspicious of the author's motives. In my line of work, I have dealt with claims, as dramatic as the authors', that are made by people eager to enter the west by any means. The author's assertions have simply not been backed up by any material evidence. This is a 'love' story with not a single proof! The contrast between this book and Queen Noor's which describes her love story with King Hussein is amazing. In that book, the documented evidence of their love is for all to see-even letters and photos were included! The author writes that Dalia's death is genuine and her 'love' story is true. However, a close inspection shows unbelievable contradictions documented by your reviewers. I may not be Jordanian or a Muslim but, because I have lived for a while in Jordan and the middle-east, I have noticed that the author has been truly careless about her description of her country of origin and Islam. It is as if the author's bottom line, when writing this book, was: 'western readers know nothing about Jordan and Islam, so they WILL believe anything they are told anyway'. For example, the author claim's that photography is forbidden in Islam is blatantly false. As an amateur photographer, I am fascinated by the beauty of Jordan and have attended IN AMMAN photographic exhibitions about the red city of Petra. Also, since she claims to be a close friend to a Muslim lady called Dalia, has the author never seen -in Dalia's home- an Islamic calendar with photos of, say, mosques around the world? I have got one at home! In fact, don't Jordanian newspapers publish photographs? The whole claim seems bizarre and designed to portray her fellow country(men/women) so backward as being afraid of having their souls 'stolen' if they pose before a camera lens! This kind of careless falsehoods has made me switch off completely. In this spirit, since the author's motto seems 'as far as the western readers goes, anything goes', I believe that, as her readers, we have the right to demand enough tangible proofs before believing that Dalia and Michael ever met let alone fell in 'love'! It should NOT be that hard, as Michael is ALIVE. The emotional, rather than intellectual, style of this book account betrays the author's objective: settling in Australia with this book as her vehicle. She is neither the first nor the last to resort to this method of emotional 'blackmail' to emigrate to the west as I have met so many applicants, in my professional experience, each with a dramatic story that usually collapses under examination. Like the one about a woman claiming to be a rape victim at home who was found to be a virgin when medically examined! The fact that there is violence against women in Jordan is undeniable. No one disagrees with the author on this point. However, to concentrate on Jordan and forget for example the awful treatment of native women in Australia and New Zealand (the 1994 film 'Once Were Warriors' is a haunting example) is intellectual deception and shows yet again that her over-riding goal is not helping women fight violence but settling in the west. Had the author criticised, in her book, even slightly, the Australian government for the level of violence against aboriginal women, she would have been banned from entering the country. So she seems to have 'fine-tuned' her attention and attacks on Jordan and Islam only! It is her SELECTIVE choice of women's issue that makes her book look suspiciously anti-islamic and anti-arab in character. This is why I believe that this book is not a universal cry for help on behalf of victimised women - it is simply the author's passport to the west. Since she has successfully settled in Australia by now, let us hope that her future writings will be less about settling scores with Jordan and more about fighting GLOBAL violence against women, starting with her new home -Australia- and her new world - the west!
Rating:
Summary: The author is her worst enemy.
Review: I have never contemplated writing a review before but, having read this book, I feel compelled to do so. I have found its style too 'feminine' and melodramatic to suit my taste, as an Englishman. Quite frankly, I was astonished and saddened by the hatchet job that the author carried out on her own country, in this book. I have worked and lived in Jordan for 20 years, till last year. So, I assure your readers that Jordan is nowhere near how the author has described her birthplace. The author should be ashamed of herself for misleading her Western readers in such a gross and blatant manner. I can only assume that she has done so to commercially exploit an international injustice that violence against women is (whether she witnessed an aspect of it 'honour killing- is debatable, as some of your reviewers have pointed out) and to justify her decision to move to Australia that I know rather well: Australian women (especially aboriginal) are not as free from abuse and murder as the author implies by her choice of Australia as her new home. This book is so packed with inaccuracies and -dare I say- sheer lies, that are plain and obvious to anyone knowing Jordan and its people, that it cannot be taken seriously. The author makes Jordan look like a concentration camp for women who have no say whatsoever in their fates. Nonsense! If that was the case then how come the author did fulfil her dream to move to Australia? The author is her worst enemy by being her best counter-example: She is the living example that Jordanian women can after all achieve what they aim for. Actually, she and Dalia have achieved their goal: opening a salon (according to the author anyway)! Should the author not acknowledge that what she achieved shows that the Jordanian women are not as enslaved and chained to their kitchen sinks, as she claims in her book? There is no reason why the author should be the unique exception. As an engineer, I have dealt with Jordanian female colleagues, including engineers wearing the Muslim scarf like Dalia. According to the author's book, such professional women do not exist. Yet they do, in an ever-increasing number! My advice to your readers, if I may, is the following. If you want to know about the real Jordan, instead of the fictional one portrayed in this book, then your best bet is 'Leap of Faith' written by Queen Noor ... I recommend it unreservedly. In this context, there is a last thought that I would like to share with your readers, with your kind permission: Although not obliged at all, Queen Noor embraced Islam because she truly loved King Hussein. So if, as the author claims, Michael did 'passionately' love Dalia, why didn't he convert to Islam as he knew it was the only way to share her life and marry her? I guess the simple answer is that he did not love her at all! May Dalia's soul rest in peace.
Rating:
Summary: Extremist, Fallacious and Horible
Review: I am even disappointed how I even got this book! I am a Jordanian from Jabal El-Hussein, I was born and raised by a traditional Muslim family and yes I was not allowed to date non-Muslims, I was not even allowed to date. BUT this is the culture. And I RESPECT IT.
Norma Khouri, puts all her anger on Islam. Honor Killing is not a muslim tradition, it is an Arabic tradition that existed before Islam. Islam is NOT a totalitarian religion. It is the religion of peace and love. What happened to your friend is unfortunate, but that is not because of Islam. It is pathetic that you did not research or read about Islam before you went on with your false accusations. Women in Islam have more rights than any other religion. Nothing in the book is the norm in Jordan.....NOTHING!
Rating:
Summary: A novel is not a gospel!
Review: This book is truly unique as Norma Khouri expects us to believe her story just because she said so in her book. Never mind the evidence. Her style can be lively and entertaining but too prone to over-dramatization. She claims the West is the land of 'love, liberty and pursuit of happiness' in contrast with Jordan the land of 'oppression and Islamic dictatorship'. How untrue! Personally, as a Muslim, I fell in love with a Western Christian woman. When her family discovered us, she was forced to go back home and marry a fellow Western Christian. My experience has made me weary of authors, like Norma Khouri, who vilify whole nations and extol others, on the basis of a single personal experience (allegedly). In this respect, this book is a classic. Norma Khouri has failed her readers by not highlighting a universal truth: There is good and bad, in all nations. It is clear from this book that she has a personal agenda based on settling a personal account with her birth country -Jordan- and what it represents. For this reason, I cannot believe Dalia's 'love story' just because she said so in her book. Her aim is to induce her readers into believing her book as a matter of faith. Otherwise one is deemed 'guilty' of being a supporter and apologist of honour killing! Why? Being a Jordanian, Dalia's demise -as a human tragedy- broke my heart but I cannot believe Norma Khouri's version of such a 'forbidden' love story because she failed to prove its existence by providing hard evidence. For example, in this book, who said: · Dalia went to the author and declared her 'attraction' to Michael? Norma Khouri!
· Dalia had a rebellious streak all her life? Norma Khouri!
· Dalia said Michael was her 'destiny'? Norma Khouri!
· The author told Dalia 'You have to forget about Michael'? Norma Khouri! And for a good reason: She doesn't want understandably be accused of contributing to Dalia's death. So she has portrayed Dalia as the prime mover in this 'love story', in the knowledge that the poor Dalia can hardly defend herself, from beyond her unmarked grave. With my personal story in mind, if Michael and Dalia had such a love story, then where is the material evidence to prove it? Like Queen Noor in 'Leap of Faith', why has Norma Khouri not published it in her book? She paints a hellish picture of our country, yet there are Jordanian men and women who have been fighting honour killing for decades, before Norma Khouri woke up to it. So, how do we know that none of Dalia's relatives (male or female; distant or close) are involved in this just cause? It is because she said so in her book! There is a difference between a novel and a gospel: This book isn't one that must not be doubted. It is just a work of fiction, with no supporting documentary evidence, written by an author driven by revenge (her own words) and full of guilt, as she was Dalia's matchmaker. In the Western media, her story is taken as an article of faith as it fits the centuries-old Western preconceptions of us when in reality this 'love story' is unbelievable because this book abounds with countless contradictions and inaccuracies. As an example, there is an obvious contradiction untouched yet by your reviewers. It concerns the claim that she and Dalia ran a unisex salon. It cannot be the case, unless they were seeking a commercial flop because wearing the Islamic scarf (hijab) is very common amongst women in Jordan: Two of my sisters wear one. A Muslim woman will take off her scarf only before her family, her husband and other women but NEVER in front of any other men. So Norma Khouri hasn't explained how a Muslim lady wearing hijab (like Dalia herself actually) would have her hair done in front of a strange male clientele! If she has bent the facts over such an obvious point how can we be sure that the rest of this 'love' story is true? Her readers have no guarantee. As another example, she doesn't even know that Lebanon and Kuwait don't border her own country. So, again, how are we supposed to believe the rest of this book when she neglects to check the accuracy of such a verifiable information: opening an atlas would have been enough, in this case! It is as if Norma Khouri couldn't be bothered with accuracy and facts. She seems to have let fiction take over the whole book! The bottom line is that Dalia lost her life (IF INDEED TRUE) not for loving Michael but for being suspected of loving him. There is a crucial difference between the two conceptions. But somehow Norma Khouri has ignored, on purpose, this difference in her book for commercial reasons, counting on an unquestionably sympathetic Western readership. As to her description of the 'barbaric way of treating women' in some sections of the Jordanian population, yes OF COURSE we DO agree with her that a lot has yet to be done to eradicate honour killings from our people's minds as outlawing it, by an act of parliament recently, is not enough. But, clearly, from what she has written in her book, Norma Khouri hasn't visited any women's refuge centre in her new Australian hometown. Otherwise, she would have admitted to her readership that violence against women (including murder) exists on her own new Australian doorstep too - no need to constantly refer to Jordan for that!! As she chose to leave her country for good, I believe that -in all fairness- she should leave Jordan and its problems to us Jordanians and concentrate on helping Australian women if what she wrote was truly meant, unless it was just a commercial tool for financial gains!
Rating:
Summary: Shame on you Norma!
Review: I read a summary about this book in Australian's Women Weekly Mag and felt great deal of sympathy towards the author and her friend, so I went online and bought the book instantly. 21 pages is the maximum I could go with this book, I could not take the lies in it anymore. As a matter of fact, I believe it should enter the Guiness books of records as "the publication with the largest number of lies ever"!. Norma, maybe this will get you more fame, which is obviously the only reason why you wrote this book. With all due respect to the people who liked this book, I think you should travel to Jordan before deciding that it was a good book and from the first sight, you will understand that it is all lies. Being half Jordanian myself, I never saw anything that the author describes in Jordan at this age and time, is it the same Jordan we are talking about? My suggestion to those reading this review, dont waste your money on a book like this, it is not real and not fun to read at all. The summary written above is all what the book is about.
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