I, Nadia: Wife of a Terrorist

by Baya Gacemi, Paul Cote (translator), Constantina Mitchell (translator)

The Algerian journalist Baya Gacemi takes a dangerous political step in writing the “autobiography” of a young Algerian woman whom she met through a program for female victims of Islamist violence in Algiers. Nadia, from a small town in central Algeria that has been especially affected by the struggle between Islamist terrorists and the authorities, married a local hooligan whose rebellious spirit she found irresistible. Unfortunately, her husband was already transforming himself from petty criminal to foot soldier and then local emir of the Islamic Action Group. Nadia's ensuing nightmare lasted over four years. As a result of the growing polarization between Islamists and the local government Nadia had become an outcast reviled by relatives and threatened by neighbors.

By 1996, with Nadia pregnant and destitute and her husband hunted by government agents, her parents expelled her from their home. Gacemi provides a human face to the cultural wars that have torn Algeria and the Middle East apart, revealing the roots of terrorism and the impact of the nightmarish struggle of the women caught up in it.

 

Genres: Algeria, Nonfiction, Womens, Memoir

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

How do you rate something so poignantly terrible? I "liked it"? "It was amazing?" Well, it certainly is amazing to me, the lives others lead, the violence inherent in terrorism, and the draw of such a life. It amazes me how women are sucked up into such worlds in patriarchal and sexist societies. I can't say I liked reading this book. But I can thank god that I am not Nadia, and that I will never have to be in this lifetime.

[Sandra D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Relentlessly bleak.

[Merícia Sousa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Achei a história demasiado fria e crua, quase sem espaço para qualquer humanidade. A personagem principal, Nádia, não me cativou, pelo contrário, pareceu-me fria, dura e até má. Na verdade, não encontrei uma única personagem que demonstrasse empatia ao longo de todo o livro. Faltou emoção, profundidade, uma centelha de calor humano que me fizesse envolver. Foi uma leitura difícil e, infelizmente, não me conquistou em nenhum momento.

[Ryan Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very personal perspective on violence and terrorism.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir told via a journalist does well in laying out the reasons why young girls and women can be swept up by the perceived thrill that a life with a terrorist may provide, in comparison to their mundane, tedious existent. However The illusion is false and the protagonist becomes a captive in her own home, giving up her bedroom and bed for 10 terrorists and becoming a slave to their every need (other than sex). Her husband abuses her verbally, emotionally and physically. He treats her as an object that he owns.

I could find no sympathy for Nadia, as she had multiple opportunities to leave, but returned to her husband again and again, stating she "loved him." This included putting her infant son at risk. The book describes Ahmed, her husband, throwing the baby across the room at one point. The author does nothing to point out the consequences of Nadia's choices. I got the feeling that the reader is just supposed to empathize over Nadia's terrible situation. However, Nadia gave up everything - family, friends, safety, a stable life - for exciting and perceived status - which instead resulted in the persecution of her family and ultimately the beheading of 5 of her friends. No one would take her into their homes when Ahmed left her on her own towards the end. I couldn’t blame them.

It struck me that the story could have been set in any vulnerable community throughout the world, where a love-struck 18 year old leaves for the dashing, bad boy, in spite of everyone's warnings. Her man turns out to be a ruthless, maniacal killer. By the end, Nadia is 22, but still lamenting how she'd like to return to her husband. I'd had enough.

[Leaha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe there were not more higher ratings for this book. I didn't want to put it down. It was very insightful to see someone who lives a life that is really unfathomable to most people in the western world. Someone noted it was depressing. Does a depressing book really deserve a poor rating? Obviously it wasn't suppose to be uplifting, it was about suffering.

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

reading these truths made me unspeakably enraged, to the degree that i tried to have everyone i know read this to that i could have company in my anger at what we let happen in this world we all live in.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Depressing (I expected that though.. Who wouldn't?) but it doesn't have any new information compared to what we already know of how women are treated in that part of the world. I was hoping to learn more.

[Lumturi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a memoir of a young woman's experience being married to a GIA emir in Algeria during the civil war. It's very well-written, but not particularly emotional nor does she seem particularly contrite.

[Chrstine]

So far so good, true story told through a reporter about the wife of an Albanian terrorist.