Lost in the Sand, by Shanna Ahmad

Right now I'm reading "Lost In The Sand" by Shanna Ahmad. The story is 90% fact but written in novel form. It's about a Kurdish woman's survival in the land of chemical experiments and genocide in the deserts of Iraq. The story is written about Najat and what was happening to the Kurdish people during the Sadam rule. I'm only part way through the book, but it's the kind of book you really don't want to put down.
Najat's village was bombed with chemicals when she was a young girl and everyone in the village died except she and a young boy. They had been up in the valley tending the boy's sheep. She was taken in by a family in another town who raised her and she attended university in Bagdad. While there she was noticed by Sa'adoun Alwan who was a high up memeber of the Ba'ath Party and he decided he wanted to marry her so he pretty much forced her family to agree to the marriage...the alternative most likey being death for the whole family! During her time in University, she was smuggling information out of Bagdad to her home in Sarkan which was passed on to someone who was trying to get information out to the West. Her purpose was to still try and help in any way she could even in her forced marriage. I'll know the rest of the story soon!
I was buying another book in Wall Mart the other day and I mentioned "Lost in the Sand" and the girl at the checkout got all excited about the book and told me the author, Shanna Ahmad actually lives in Penticton and works at a Shopper's Drugs. She said Shanna has been to their high school and told them about the book. This was confirmed by the man who owns "The Dusty Cover" book store in Osoyoos as well. So, maybe some day I'll get to meet this lady and get my book autographed. The book sells for about $40 but it has a copyright of 2007, so I'm sure one could order it from a library.