Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail

On August 15th, 1972, Malika Oufkir was probably the most privileged teenager in all Morocco. The eldest daughter of King Hassan II’s top aide, she had been raised in the opulent seclusion of the monarch’s harem. But within 24 hours, her father would be tried and summarily executed for treason, and she and her entire family would be arrested and imprisoned in a remote desert penal colony. For the next 20 years, her accommodations would only grow worse.

Malika Oufkir’s memories of her 20-year incarceration — most of it in vermin-infested solitary confinement — rivets your attention and educates your senses.