Summary

Chapter 4: The Wedding

Early 2008

Nujood and Mona had always liked to window shop and gaze at the evening gowns in the store windows. Nujood was especially drawn to a white wedding dress which was in sharp contrast to the black-clad garb covering the married women in Yemen from head to toe. Mona assured Nujood that one day she would have a lovely wedding. Neither girl knew that it would come so soon and that it would be anything but lovely.

Initially, Nujood felt relief at news of her impending wedding. It would be an escape from her home life that had steadily deteriorated since Aba had been without steady employment. To survive, Nujood’s mother had been selling off personal items. The day came when there was nothing left to sell. Mona and her brothers took to begging on the streets. Mona was...