I Am Nujood: Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui is a memoir set in contemporary Yemen. Ali was born to a poor family in Khardji, a rural town with a culture inundated in old tradition. Ali describes the experience of being married-away at the age of 10 to keep the rest of her family fed, and the torment she endures at the hand of her new husband. In the end, Nujood seeks the protection of the courts, and becomes the voice for abused women everywhere.

I Am Nujood: Age 10 and Divorced shows the slow social progress in rural areas. In rural Yemen it is common practice for fathers to marry-off their daughters at a very young age, while people in the cities are shocked to see a child at the age of 10 demanding a divorce. I Am Nujood: Age 10 and Divorced describes the persecution of rural Yemeni women by unquestioned traditionalism. Read the rest of this entry »