Lost Without My Daughter

In 1987, American housewife Betty Mahmoody published Not Without My Daughter, which became a sensation. In the book, Betty claimed that she and Mahtob, her five-year-old daughter, had been kidnapped from the USA in 1984 and imprisoned in Tehran by her Iranian husband, Dr Sayed Mahmoody - aka 'Moody' - a man she vilified as a violent, sadistic monster. Betty's story culminated with a dramatic escape, as she takes her daughter from Iran over the Zagros Mountains and into Turkey. The book sold 12 million copies and inspired the 1991 Hollywood film of the same name, starring Oscar-winner Sally Field. For twenty years Betty's husband has kept silent. Now, in Lost Without My Daughter, Sayed Mahmoody finally reveals the astonishing truth. As well as being a moving, frank story of a once happy family's collapse, and a father's subsequent search for meaning in his life, Lost Without My Daughter is also a cultural and political history of Iran, from the revolution to the present day. Perhaps more than anything, it is an exercise in truth, the last-ditch attempt of a father desperate to reach his daughter, to let her know that he is not the monster he has been portrayed to be.

The true story of Betty Mahmoody's escape from Iran with her daughter after her Iranian husband attempted to turn a two-week vacation into a permanent relocation and a life of subservience for Betty and her daughter.

The daughter at the center of the international bestseller Not Without My Daughter completes her story: escaping from Iran, growing up in fear, battling deadly disease, and learning to forgive. Two decades ago, millions of readers worldwide thrilled to the story told in the international bestseller Not Without My Daughter—subsequently made into a film starring Sally Field—that told of an American mother and her six-year-old child’s daring escape from an abusive and tyrannical Iranian husband and father. Now the daughter returns to tell the whole story, not only of that imprisonment and escape but of life after fleeing Tehran: living in fear of re-abduction, enduring recurring nightmares and panic attacks, attending school under a false name, battling life-threatening illness—all under the menacing shadow of her father. This is the story of an extraordinary young woman’s triumph over life-crushing trauma to build a life of peace and forgiveness. Taking readers from Michigan to Iran and from Ankara, Turkey, to Paris, France, My Name Is Mahtob depicts the profound resilience of a wounded soul healed by faith in God’s goodness and in his care and love. And Mahmoody reveals the secret of how she liberated herself from a life of fear, learning to forgive the father who had shattered her life and discovering joy and peace that comes from doing so.

A pregnancy pact between three teenaged girls puts their mothers' love to the ultimate test in this explosive new novel from Barbara Delinsky, “a first-rate storyteller who creates characters as familiar as your neighbors.” (Boston Globe) When Susan Tate's seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily, announces she is pregnant, Susan is stunned. A single mother, she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily and herself. Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school juniors who happen to be Lily's best friends-and the town turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing, the most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal of the high school, she has always been held up as a role model of hard work and core values. Now her detractors accuse her of being a lax mother, perhaps not worthy of the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan struggles with the implications of her daughter's pregnancy, her job, financial independence, and long-fought-for dreams are all at risk. The emotional ties between mothers and daughters are stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story of love and forgiveness. Once again, Barbara Delinsky has given us a powerful novel, one that asks a central question: What does it take to be a good mother?

From the global bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE LETTER comes a gripping and heartbreaking novel of family secrets. 'Utterly gripping, taut and powerful. An emotionally charged, compulsive, moving novel' Adele Parks 'Captivating and suspenseful' Jessica Fellowes 'I so enjoyed it. Twists and turns... Hours of gripping entertainment and a great many tears' Lesley Pearse _______________ Some secrets are locked away for years . . . Rebecca Waterhouse is just thirteen when she witnesses her mother's death at the hand of her father in Seaview Cottage. But what else did she see? Years later, Rebecca's daughters Iris and Jessie know their mother will never speak of that terrible night. But when Jessie goes missing, with her gravely ill newborn, Iris realises the past may hold the key to her sister's disappearance. With Jessie in trouble, Iris must unravel a twisting story of love and betrayal in her mother's family history. Only then will Seaview Cottage give up its dark and tragic secret... *Previously published as The Lost Child* Emily Gunnis's new novel The Midwife's Secret is available NOW _______________ READERS ADORE EMILY GUNNIS'S MESMERISING NOVELS: 'A truly brilliant and moving read. I loved it' Karen Hamilton 'Loss, betrayal and a decades-old secret... BRILLIANT' Heat magazine 'A wonderfully woven novel, full of family secrets that will sweep you away into another time. I loved it more than I could possibly convey in words' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review 'One of my reading highlights of the year and it has only made me more eager to read many more books from Emily Gunnis' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review 'I'd give this book 10* if I could' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review 'Wow! I can't remember reading a book so quickly for a very long time. Couldn't put it down but didn't want it to finish. A must read' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review 'Written so beautifully, such attention to detail, her words and mesmerising characters take hold of every emotion within you' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review 'This story grabbed hold of me and sucked me in. Heartbreaking, emotional, gripping, suspenseful and will keep you on the edge of your seat right to the very last chapter' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review

PARENTING NEVER ENDS. From the founders of the #1 site for parents of teens and young adults comes an essential guide for building strong relationships with your teens and preparing them to successfully launch into adulthood The high school and college years: an extended roller coaster of academics, friends, first loves, first break-ups, driver’s ed, jobs, and everything in between. Kids are constantly changing and how we parent them must change, too. But how do we stay close as a family as our lives move apart? Enter the co-founders of Grown and Flown, Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington. In the midst of guiding their own kids through this transition, they launched what has become the largest website and online community for parents of fifteen to twenty-five year olds. Now they’ve compiled new takeaways and fresh insights from all that they’ve learned into this handy, must-have guide. Grown and Flown is a one-stop resource for parenting teenagers, leading up to—and through—high school and those first years of independence. It covers everything from the monumental (how to let your kids go) to the mundane (how to shop for a dorm room). Organized by topic—such as academics, anxiety and mental health, college life—it features a combination of stories, advice from professionals, and practical sidebars. Consider this your parenting lifeline: an easy-to-use manual that offers support and perspective. Grown and Flown is required reading for anyone looking to raise an adult with whom you have an enduring, profound connection.

From Lucretia Grindle, author of Villa Triste, comes a novel of lives lost and found, as intricate and mysterious as the Italian streets where the story's secrets begin. When American student Kristin Carson enrolls in a study abroad program in Florence, she's sure it will be the best year of her life, a chance to explore art, poetry, and romance in the arms of her new Italian boyfriend. But days before her parents arrive in Florence to celebrate her eighteenth birthday, Kristin disappears. Senior Detective Alessandro Pallioti and his young protégé Enzo Saenz are called to investigate. At first they believe she's simply run off for a romantic weekend and forgotten to tell her parents. But when Kristin's step-mother, Anna, also goes missing, Pallioti and Saenz suspect something much more sinister has happened. As they deepen their investigation they discover that Anna Carson is not who she appears to be, and Kristin's new boyfriend isn't just another local Lothario, but one of the most infamous—and dangerous—men in Italy. To find Kristin, Pallioti and Saenz must first find Anna and uncover the secrets she's kept buried for a lifetime. To do so, they must wade through the past, revisiting times and places most Italians would rather forget, and walk in the footsteps of the dead.

A charming and heartwarming true story for anyone who has ever longed for a place to belong. “Anne of Green Gables,” My Daughter, and Me is a witty romp through the classic novel; a visit to the magical shores of Prince Edward Island; and a poignant personal tale of love, faith, and loss. And it all started with a simple question: “What’s an orphan?” The words from her adopted daughter, Phoebe, during a bedtime reading of Anne of Green Gables stopped Lorilee Craker in her tracks. How could Lorilee, who grew up not knowing her own birth parents, answer Phoebe’s question when she had wrestled all her life with feeling orphaned—and learned too well that not every story has a happy ending? So Lorilee set off on a quest to find answers in the pages of the very book that started it all, determined to discover—and teach her daughter—what home, family, and belonging really mean. If you loved the poignancy of Orphan Train and the humor of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, you will be captivated by “Anne of Green Gables,” My Daughter, and Me. It’s a beautiful memoir that deftly braids three lost girls’ stories together, speaks straight to the heart of the orphan in us all, and shows us the way home at last.