Desert Flower

Autoren-Porträt von Waris Dirie

Waris Dirie wuchs in einer Nomadenfamilie in der somalischenWüste auf. Im Alter von fünf Jahren erlebte sie die Qualen der Beschneidung -ein Ritual, an dessen Folgen ihre Schwester und zwei Cousinen gestorben sind.Mit vierzehn floh sie zu Verwandten nach Mogadischu und arbeitete dann vierJahre als Hausmädchen bei ihrem Onkel in London. Mit achtzehn wurde Waris Dirie als Model entdeckt.Lange war es ihr nicht möglich, darüber zu sprechen, was ihr in jungen Jahrenzugestoßen war. Doch nach und nach reifte in Waris Dirie der Entschluss, ihre Leiden vor der Öffentlichkeitnicht mehr länger zu verheimlichen. Sie schrieb ihr Aufsehen erregendes erstesBuch Wüstenblume , das zu einem riesigen Bestseller in21 Ländern wurde und auch in Deutschland über 100 Wochen auf derBestsellerliste stand. Heute lebt sie mit ihrem kleinen Sohn in New York undengagiert sich als Sonderbotschafterin der UNO gegen die Beschneidung vonFrauen, die noch heute in 28 Ländern der Welt praktiziert wird.

'Waris's story is one of remarkable courage. From the deserts of Somalia to the world of high fashion ... she emerges a real champion. She is the most beautiful inspiration to anyone' ELTON JOHN 'A story that traverses continents, spans worlds of human experience and human pain ... Waris Dirie was a victim once, but she never will be again' EXPRESS 'She was circumcised at five, fled an arranged marriage at 12, then became a Pirelli girl in her teens. Now, at twenty-eight, Waris Dirie is an ambassador for the UN. Her mission? To rid Africa of its most barbaric ritual' OBSERVER 'Dirie's story is an extraordinary one.' SUNDAY TIMES 'A mettlesome, contemporary Cindereall, her voice is as entertaining as it is inspiring.' THE TIMES 'This story will make you weep for what people are capable of doing to their children and fill you with admiration for one woman's strength.' IRISH NEWS 'Waris Dirie's story puts "rags to riches" to shame. The "Desert Flower" started life as one of 12 children of a Somali nomad family, a people with no written culture, where the basic unit of currency is the camel. Faced at 12 with the prospect of marriage to a 60-year-old man she didn't know, she broke all the rules and ran away, surviving a traumatic trek across the desert to end up in London, as a maid to the Somalian Ambassador. It was in McDonalds that her striking beauty was "discovered", leading to a career in modelling and another as an ardent campaigner against female genital mutilation (circumcision). As a novel it would be unbelievable, as Waris survives circumcision, rape, arranged marriage, a lion attack--you name it, she's lived through it. But the book is remarkable less for its deliberately dramatic set pieces, and more for its haunting evocation of the little-told life of Somalian nomads, seen from a child's telling perspective, where life centres on the beloved camels, the horrors of womanhood are still an exciting mystery, and the nights are filled with the smell of