Desert Flower - Waris Dirie

We have all heard many stories of people working their way up from a tough upbringing to live a life of luxury but this book is different from the norm. In her autobiography Waris Dirie tells us how she made the journey from growing up as part of a nomadic tribe in Somalia to supermodel. Life was tough growing up as one of twelve siblings in the Somalian desert. The families home was a fabric tent and they moved around with their herd of goats and camels to find water and land to graze on. At the age of five Waris was circumsised as is the custom for Somali girls, something which continues to haunt her for her whole life. Although life is hard she describes a ...  Read the complete review

If you enjoy reading biographies/autobiographies, please do not let this book pass you by. It is the story of Waris Dirie. One of twelve children, born into a traditional family of tribal desert nomads in East Africa. when she was five years old she had to endure the torture of female circumcision, having seen others die from this barbaric custom. At the age of twelve her father arranged a marriage with a sixty year old stranger. She was worth five camels... Instead she ran away. She survived the dangerous Somalian desert and managed to get to London where she worked for one of her relatives, the Somalian ambassador. When the family returned ...  Read the complete review