Susan Zarif's memoir is a breathtaking journey from her traditional, small town American childhood to the University of Arizona in the 1960s where she met Salim, a Lebanese foreign student she later married. After graduation she went to Vietnam during the war from 1970-72. The war made such an impact on her that she made her "Great Escape" and traveled down the International Hippy Trail from India to Istanbul to Thailand and Laos.
She reconnected with Salim and lived with his traditional, Muslim family in Sidon, Lebanon until she settled with him in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for 16 years. During those years they went in and out of Lebanon during the civil war there. They spent the summer of 1982 in Sidon during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Later she lived in Cairo on and off for 2 years battling in their courts to try and save their investment.
Zarif's journey through life is a coming-of-age account through many lands and cultures. It is also a fascinating bi-cultural love story with all the problems to be expected. The book has a historical dimension that sweeps through the breathtaking religions and cultures and histories of the Far East and the Middle East.
This book is very informative, vastly entertaining and really funny at times. There are eighty pages of gorgeous photographs. You will never forget the fascinating journey you took through the world.