Desert Flower

Waris Dirie ran away from home in Somalia when she was only 13. She took no food or drink and had only the clothes she was wearing but she cared about none of these things. Her only concern was to get away from her father, who wanted her to marry a man many years her senior. Waris was a courageous, resourceful girl, whose first dangerous encounter would have sent a less determined child back home. Approached by a lion as she was sleeping under a tree in the desert, she was too weak from lack of food to run away. She thought her time had come and prayed that death would be quick. But the lion must have decided she was too puny to be of interest, for it wandered away. This was only the start of her adventure. After a plane journey to London - giving her her first experience of flying and, indeed, her first sight of a white person -Waris found herself a room in the YMCA and a job in a fast-food restaurant. This was a remarkable achievement for a young woman with no education and no English, from an utterly alien country. She was spotted by a fashion photographer and became a model - a contemporary of the as yet unknown Naomi Campbell. Later she achieved her ambition, to campaign on behalf of the UN against the one aspect of Somali culture she despised - female circumcision, a custom still practised in much of Africa and elsewhere. She herself had been circumcised when she was five. Waris's book has been translated into 14 languages and inspired Elton John to buy the film rights. The tale of a truly exceptional woman who overcame incredible odds, it is a story everyone should read. (Kirkus UK)