I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali

Initially, she wonders whether her marriage may not be an escape hatch from her family’s rough life and troubles in Sana’a.

The narrative then returns to the period right before Nujood’s marriage. The narrative returns to Nujood at the courthouse, stating her case and obtaining help and refuge from the judges. It is in this context that Nujood’s father, Ali Mohammad, decides to marry her off to a man three times her age. The already-poor family struggled in Sana’a, living in a slum with little money and being forced to beg and work on the street. However, the family was forced to move to the capital of Sana’a after a scandal broke out involving Nujood’s sister, Mona. We learn that Nujood’s family lived a rough and simple but happy life in the remote northern Yemeni village of Khardji. She mentions her husband’s name only once, otherwise referring to him as “ him.” After the courthouse episode, the book delves back in time to Nujood’s early childhood, providing crucial context. Although she does not specify the trials that she has endured, we can infer that her situation is dire. Against all odds, she has come to seek help from a judge in the form of a divorce. The novel begins with the young Nujood at a courthouse in Sana’a.

This tale is not told chronologically, so the reader jumps back and forth in time throughout Nujood’s early childhood, her move to the city of Sana’a, her marriage, her divorce, and her post-divorce life. Yemen’s beauty and wonder are contrasted with this violence as a backdrop and as crucial context for Nujood’s tale. Nevertheless, in the introduction, the voice is that of Minoui, who introduces us to a strange and wonderful country that has been fought over by outsiders throughout its history and is now marred by violence from within. Minoui never specifies how she and Nujood co-wrote the book, so the reader is tasked with separating out Nujood’s thoughts and Minoui’s interventions throughout the work.

The novel begins with an introduction to the country of Yemen and to Nujood’s story written by Delphine Minoui, the book’s second and adult writer. Nujood published her biography, co-written with French journalist Delphine Minoui, in 2010, two years after her controversial divorce. I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced tells the story of Nujood Ali, a Yemeni girl who is possibly the youngest divorcée in the world.

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali