麻豆社

Azadeh Moaveni's acclaimed, insightful and considered account about a cast of young women from Tunisia, Germany, the UK and the Middle East who joined ISIS.

Azadeh Moaveni's book is an intimate portrait of a handful of young women who made the shocking decision to join the Islamic State. Moaveni takes us into the inner world and daily lives of an unforgettable cast of girls and women. We encounter Nour from Tunis; Emma from Frankfurt; Asma who has just moved from Damascus to Raqqa with her family, and the Bethnal Green girls who made the headlines when they left their successful school careers and boarded a plane bound for Istanbul.

The decisions each woman makes shock, but as Azadeh Moaveni delves into their motivations, empathetic and unsettling complexities emerge.

Journalist, writer and academic, Azadeh Moaveni has covered the Middle East for almost two decades. She is the author of Lipstick Jihad and Honeymoon in Tehran. Together with the Nobel Peace Laureate, Shirin Ebadi, she wrote Iran Awakening. Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS is her latest book and was shortlisted for the Baille Gifford Prize for non-fiction.

Omnibus of five parts read by Nadia Albina.

Abridged by Penny Leicester

Producer: Elizabeth Allard

First broadcast on 麻豆社 Radio 4 in March 2020.