Items related to Desert Flower
Waris Dirie ran away from her oppressive life in the African desert when she was barely in her teens, illiterate and impoverished, with nothing to her name but a tattered shawl. She traveled alone across the dangerous Somali desert to Mogadishu--the first leg of a remarkable journey that would take her to London, where she worked as a house servant; then to nearly every corner of the globe as an internationally renowned fashion model; and ultimately to New York City, where she became a human rights ambassador for the U.N. Desert Flower is her extraordinary story.
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Review:
Waris Dirie's story puts "rags to riches" to shame. The "Desert Flower" started life as one of 12 children of a Somali nomad family, a people with no written culture, where the basic unit of currency is the camel. Faced at 12 with the prospect of marriage to a 60-year-old man she didn't know, she broke all the rules and ran away, surviving a traumatic trek across the desert to end up in London, as a maid to the Somalian Ambassador. It was in McDonalds that her striking beauty was "discovered", leading to a career in modelling and another as an ardent campaigner against female genital mutilation (circumcision).
Review:
As a novel it would be unbelievable, as Waris survives circumcision, rape, arranged marriage, a lion attack--you name it, she's lived through it. But the book is remarkable less for its deliberately dramatic set pieces, and more for its haunting evocation of the little-told life of Somalian nomads, seen from a child's telling perspective, where life centres on the beloved camels, the horrors of womanhood are still an exciting mystery, and the nights are filled with the smell of frankincense. Desert Flower is a recollection of such gentle beauty that "rags to riches" seems hardly appropriate.--Alan Stewart
Waris's story is one of remarkable courage. From the deserts of Somalia to the world of high fashion ... she emerges a real champion. She is the most beautiful inspiration to anyone (ELTON JOHN)
A story that traverses continents, spans worlds of human experience and human pain ... Waris Dirie was a victim once, but she never will be again (EXPRESS)
She was circumcised at five, fled an arranged marriage at 12, then became a Pirelli girl in her teens. Now, at twenty-eight, Waris Dirie is an ambassador for the UN. Her mission? To rid Africa of its most barbaric ritual (OBSERVER)
Dirie's story is an extraordinary one. (SUNDAY TIMES)
A story that traverses continents, spans worlds of human experience and human pain ... Waris Dirie was a victim once, but she never will be again (EXPRESS)
She was circumcised at five, fled an arranged marriage at 12, then became a Pirelli girl in her teens. Now, at twenty-eight, Waris Dirie is an ambassador for the UN. Her mission? To rid Africa of its most barbaric ritual (OBSERVER)
Dirie's story is an extraordinary one. (SUNDAY TIMES)
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- PublisherWilliam Morrow Paperbacks
- Publication date2011
- ISBN 10 0688172377
- ISBN 13 9780688172374
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages250
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Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad
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Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad by Dirie, Waris, Miller, Cathleen [Paperback ]
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