Azadeh Moaveni's acclaimed, insightful and considered account is about a cast of young women from Tunisia, Germany, the UK and the Middle East who joined ISIS. Nadia Albina is the reader.

Azadeh Moaveni's book is an intimate portrait of a handful of young women who made the shocking decision to join the Islamic State. Moaveni takes us into the inner world and daily lives of an unforgettable cast of girls and women. We encounter Nour from Tunis; Emma from Frankfurt; Asma who has just moved from Damascus to Raqqa with her family, and the Bethnal Green girls who made the headlines when they left their successful school careers and boarded a plane bound for Turkey.

The decisions each woman makes are discomforting, but as Azadeh Moaveni delves into their motivations, empathetic and unsettling complexities emerge.

Journalist, writer and academic, Azadeh Moaveni, has covered the Middle East for almost two decades. She is the author of Lipstick Jihad and Honeymoon in Tehran. Together with the Nobel Peace Laureate, Shirin Ebadi, she wrote Iran Awakening. Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS is her latest book and was shortlisted for the Baille Gifford Prize for non-fiction.

Abridged by Penny Leicester
Produced by Elizabeth Allard Show less