Farida Abbas and Andrea C. Hoffman
About
Dr Andrea-Claudia Hoffman is political editor and Middle East expert for the news magazine Focus and has been travelling the region for more than 15 years. She recently co- authored Reach for the stars, sister!, a memoir of the first female Afghan fighter pilot, published by Droemer.
Books
The Girl Who Beat ISIS
US: ATRIA BOOKS/US, UK and Commonwealth/Vintage UK,Germany: Luebbe Netherlands: Harpercollins; Slovac Republic: Ikar; Italy: Piemme; Poland: Prozynski; Serbia: Vulkan; Portugal: Leya; Romania: RAO; Greece: Livanis.
Rowan Yapp, Editorial Direcor, Square Peg has bought English language & Commonwealth rights. UK rights handled by Barbara Zitwer.
Fireda Abbas was seventeen years old when, in August 2014, her village in the mountains of Northern Iraq was attacked by ISIS terrorists. The terrorists rounded up all the men and boys and slaughtered them, before taking the girls as prisoners. The massacre of their village was one of many ISIS atrocities against the Yazidi Christians which made headline news worldwide.
For months, Fireda endured hell on earth. She had her teeth checked like an animal in slave markets and was passed from one man to the next, repeatedly beaten and raped. But Fireda is a fighter. With huge courage she stood up to her captors in the face of this horror, calling out their un- Koranic behaviour. Eventually her defiance paid off as she led 6 other girls in a daring escape.
Rowan Yapp, Editorial Director, Square Peg has bought English language & Commonwealth rights to The ISIS Girl: My Escape from Jihadi Kidnap, the true story of a young girl’s defiant escape from ISIS enslavement, by Fireda Abbas. Fireda’s groundbreaking insight into the female experience behind ISIS enemy lines is co-written with Andrea-Claudia Hoffman and UK rights were handled by Barbara Zitwer.
Fireda Abbas was seventeen years old when, in August 2014, her village in the mountains of Northern Iraq was
attacked by ISIS terrorists. The terrorists rounded up all the men and boys and slaughtered them, before taking the girls as prisoners. The massacre of their village was one of many ISIS atrocities against the Yazidi Christians which made headline news worldwide.
For months, Fireda endured hell on earth. She had her teeth checked like an animal in slave markets and was passed from one man to the next, repeatedly beaten and raped. But Fireda is a fighter. With huge courage
she stood up to her captors in the face of this horror, calling out their un- Koranic behaviour. Eventually her defiance paid off as she led 6 other girls in a daring escape.
Today she lives in a refugee camp in northern Iraq while her German asylum application is processed. She is taking a stand against the next threat she will face: ostracism from society. Rape is hushed up as shameful in her traditional Yazidi community. Yet this is something Fireda is not prepared to accept, and she is breaking the silence. She will be testifying against ISIS at the Hague War Crimes Tribunal.
Rowan Yapp said: ‘Fireda is an extraordinarily courageous young woman with an important story to share. We have not yet heard the whole story of female experience at the hand of ISIS. Fireda’s experience sheds light on so many worrying blanks in our daily news reports, be it the realities of life for the British Jihadi brides or some of what the kidnapped Nigerian girls may have undergone.’