My Name is Mahtob

I’m only a few years older than Mahtob Mahmoody, so I never read her mother’s book, Not Without My Daughter.  However, I remember when the movie based on the book came to theatres and the media coverage of the story.  An American woman married a man from Iran and he took his wife and child back to Iran to visit for two weeks, except he never intended to return.  He kidnapped and imprisoned them, telling his wife she could return to America, but her daughter would stay with him.  She refused to leave without her little girl and found allies in Iran to help her to escape to the Turkish border with her daughter.  This book covers the daughter’s memory of what happened and tells her life story after they returned to the United States.

The two major themes in this book that spoke to me most were the acknowledgement of God’s hand of providence and the lack of prejudice toward any group of people.  Mahmoody makes clear that she and her mother are not anti-Muslim or anti-Iranian.  She emphasizes that an entire religion or nationality cannot be blamed for the actions of one person.  It was her father that acted badly, not all Iranians.  It was private Iranian citizens, not the U.S. or any other government, that helped them escape.  Mahmoody writes with affection and devotion to Persian culture: its celebrations, hospitality, and food.

Mahmoody became a Christian after returning to the United States and it was through her faith she was able to let go of her anger and hatred toward her father. She also viewed her past through the lens of God’s provision.  She reflects on the Weaver’s poem by B.M. Franklin that compares our lives to a weaving.  “Not ’til the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly will God unroll the canvas and the explain the reasons why.”  Mahmoody explains that we don’t always know why things happen to us but God does and he is in control.

I enjoyed reading Mahmoody’s story and appreciated her perspective on the things that happened to her.  I highly recommend this book.  I received this book from Book Look Bloggers in exchange for this review.