A CAVE IN THE CLOUDS A Young Womans Escape from ISIS

Baraka Rahmani brings emotional sensitivity to her narration of the memoir of Badeeah Ahmed, an 18-year-old Yazidi woman who was kidnapped and held in captivity by Isis forces in Iraq. Rahmani is gifted at delivering context. In matter-of-fact tones she weaves information about Badeeah's family, her small town of Kocho, and the Yazidi people, a Northern Iraqi sect with a unique and powerful spirituality. This spirituality, her mother's love, and protecting her nephew, whom she nurtured as her son, sustains her in captivity. While the story is in no way gratuitous in its details, Rahmani's emotive narration reveals the horrific torture Badeeah faces as a sex slave, along with her courage in escaping and healing from the trauma she experienced. A poignant, gripping listen. S.W. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2021]