A Brave Face: Two Cultures, Two Families, and the Iraqi Girl Who Bound Them Together

The inspirational story of an American woman who moved mountains to secure medical treatments--and eventually a home--for a severely burned Iraqi girl thousands of miles away. Now available in trade paper.

It was a typical Sunday morning in 2006 when Barbara Marlowe first saw the photo that changed her life--a photo of four-year-old Teeba Furat Fadhil, whose face, head, and hands had been severely burned during a roadside bombing in the Diyala Province of Iraq. It was Teeba's eyes that captivated Barbara. They were wide, dark, and soulful. They seemed to cry out across oceans with a single message: Help me.

Barbara's story of responding to that cry is as inspiring as it is improbable. With a powerful faith and determination, she overcame obstacle after obstacle to bring Teeba to the United States for medical treatments--and unexpectedly, to ultimately offer her a home.

A Brave Face includes material written by Teeba, now a young woman, and her Iraqi mother, Dunia, at key moments in their stories. The book also explores the connection forged between Barbara and Dunia over the past decade--a deep bond between two mothers that has flourished despite the distance, the strife of war, and the horrors of Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

In the end, this is a story of hope. A story of building bridges. A story of the always astonishing power of self-sacrificial love.