I had watched the film version of this when it first came out and found the account so harrowing that when I re-watched Not Without My Daughter: The Harrowing True Story of a Mother's Courage I found myself wanting to read the accounts of Betty Mahmoody and her daughter Mathob Mahmoody. Moody's attitude toward Betty also changed: He forced her to abide by increasingly strict Iranian customs; he lied to her; he claimed that she was lying whenever she complained; he ignored her and their daughter for days at a time; he even blinded himself to the oppression of women in Iran.

And Mom always made sure that I knew that if I wanted to communicate with my father, it was always my decision. When the movie, “Not Without My Daughter” came out back in 1991, I remember hearing that many of my fellow countrymen boycotted it. They were to travel through Turkey; the smugglers would take them from Tehran to Tabriz and then to Van.

There were some incredible kind-hearted individuals also, those who helped and befriended Betty in whatever way they could.

Not Without My Daughter is a biographical book by Betty Mahmoody detailing the escape of Betty and her daughter, Mahtob, from Betty's abusive husband in Iran. Mahtob answers most of these questions in her book, but the rest are one’s people will have to puzzle out for themselves.If you have picked this book up in hopes that it will give you insight about Iran, put it right back down. On a final note: I don't know why this is, but most who have read Not Without My Daughter are unaware that it has a sequel: For the Love of a Child. In August 1984, Michigan housewife Betty Mahmoody accompanied her husband to his native Iran for a two-week vacation. To her horror, she found herself and her four-year-old daughter, Mahtob, virtual prisoners of a man rededicated to his Shiite Moslem faith, in a land where women are near-slaves and Americans are despised. He directed them to an apartment where they remained for three days as Amahl completed their travel arrangements.