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STOLEN LIVES is a book that reads like an adventurous movie script --- the author is
the eldest daughter of a Moroccan general who was adopted by the King at the age of five
and brought up as a companion to his own child. She was a harem member with special
privileges, the least of which was her desired eligibility for marriage when she came of
age. In 1972, however, General Oufkir was arrested for a plot to assassinate the King, and
Malika's entire family --- five siblings and her mother --- were then imprisoned in a
penal colony. They were there for 15 years, at the end of which they were able to, with
their hands only, dig a tunnel out of their cells and escape, only to be captured again
five days later. In 1996, Malika was able to leave Morocco and live in exile far away from
there, prompting her fascinating book.
It's hard to believe, with all we know about the insanity enacted upon innocent people in
many countries around the world throughout history, that this type of harem tale, as
shocking and upsetting as it is, is actually true. Oufkir's telling of her family's plight
is without hard edges, without melodramatic flair --- instead, she simply allows the facts
of their lives to express the dire horror and fear under which the family lived for so
long. It is this expressive simplicity and sticking to the facts that makes the story so
eminently readable. As haunting as it is, the story manages to play itself out with just
the right details, like a perfectly wrought motion picture. Yet, you never forget that
this is a true story.
Oufkir's honesty and forthrightness about the strangeness of her young life and the
oppression of her later life add up to a survivor's story that everyone will find
meritorious, inspiring and fascinating.
--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
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