Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating true story
Review: I found this book mesmerizing. Malika's story is mindblowing. The most interesting parts of the book occured when I realized how the rest of the world just continued on as Malika's family suffered inhumane conditions for over 15 years! I agree that it could have been written better. The author often reveals information at inappropriate points in the story...
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating Book
Review: This audio version of the book really held my attention ! It was very well written, and so interesting, due to the precise descriptions of the characters and events. Malika paints a picture with her command of the English language. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Well done,Must read,Humbling.
Review: The author was very descript in telling her story. The events and sequences were logical and truth baring. I found the book to be captivating, educational and heart wrenching in parts. The author talks from the heart and her soul. A very well written book. I too, felt like I was sitting next to the autor at all times. Bravo,Bravo Milika--God's love and graces with you and your precious siblings for the rest of their lives. I couldn't do a better job myself describing the facts and my life for the last 20 years then you did but than again, my friend who would want to be where you unfortunately were. Remarkable story and it was very well written. Horray
Rating:
Summary: contradictions or misunderstandings?
Review: After reading another review of this book I felt compeled to add my review. This book doesn't have contradictions as another reviewer has suggested. The conditions of this family's incarceration were constantly changing and in fact some "contradictions" are addressed in the book if you read closely. Letters were first allowed and then disallowed. They were allowed medicines at first and also in the end however for the majority of their prison term medicines were not supplied. This book was written exactly how a story would be conveyed to another person. The story follows a basic timeline but is not entirely contained to that timeline. This book attempts to compress 25 years of facts, thoughts and feelings into a book and does a fairly good job. The story is remarkable but more impressive to me is the family dynamics that evolved during their time in prison. The book is easy to read and only took me several days to finish. Perhaps some of the confusion over the book is due to the length of time you have to read the entire text. It was for me my first book addressing human rights and was indeed an eye opener. It is at the same time a tale of horror and survival due to strong family support.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book!
Review: I could not put this book down once I opened it. I finished it in two nights. It will really make you think about things we take for granted everyday. It is probably the best book I ever read!
Rating:
Summary: five stars for story and three stars for style
Review: Malika Oufkir tells us the powerful and tragic story of her life in the book Stolen Lives. She begins the story describing her life as a princess after being adopted by the king of Morocco. She lived an almost unreal life of luxury while at court. The opulence Malika describes is comparable to the time of Marie Antoinette. From the resplendent court, her life is irrevocably altered when her father fails in an assassination attempt and her entire family is placed in prison including her three year old brother. The family's story is extraordinary. Their triumph of spirit is remarkable considering the duration and horrors which they suffered. We see the importance of unity and belief of oneself and each other. We see incredible love and sacrifice. But we also see how imprisonment can degrade the human spirit and affect the psyche. We learn in the preface of the book, how Malika came to hire Michele Fitoussi as the co-author of her book. Throughout the book, the reader cannot help but wonder why. It is a shame that such an interesting and compelling story was so poorly written. The author fails terribly in her attempt to describe herself as a sympathetic person prior to her imprisonment. The continual jumping back and forth in time is confusing and annoying to a reader. I also wondered if perhaps the translation was poor, because of the use of certain words and general lack of eloquence from a person who entertained her family with her stories in their darkest hour. Another book which may interest readers who liked and appreciated Stolen Lives is In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. Readers who appreciate stories about the triumph of the human spirit will enjoy Stolen Lives.
Rating: 
Summary: I Want to Believe
Review: I appreciated Malika Oufkir's book very much. I have to wonder though, with the reader from Olympia, Washington, about some of the information Oufkir includes. It somehow seems disconnected at times. I also wonder why her father, well-connected and wealthy, jeapordized his family's lives with his attempted coup. The writing, as well, seems "rough" at times. I am very interested in Morocco and have traveled there. I do have great sympathy for Oufkir; I just wish the book were better written and more clear in the details. The poor woman, though, was probably in a state of constant shock due to the terrible conditions, and her recall probably IS uncertain at times.
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Summary: No words to describe the horror and the joy
Review: This was a book I couldn't put down. The pain and horror that the children and the adults endured had no end in sight. Yet something in them held on and found a way to find small amounts of joy in this concentration camp like prison. They somehow found humor in the darkest moments so they could hold onto their sanity. This is a book that will fill your soul with wonder, the wonder of how good can triumph in such evil circumstances and wonder at the human soul for thrusting such evil upon children and adults. There is no answer and to say life is unfair doesn't explain this story. I didn't find it depressing in the least, I found myself traveling at a safe distance for me with the author, her siblings, mother and other relatives who traveled this path into hell and out of hell.
Rating:
Summary: So true
Review: I am half moroccan and this book is so true. Hassan II was a very strict man that didn't want to be insulted. It's funny thought, when I was living in morocco, I even passed by the town she was prisior in. I had no idea they where starving and cruely punishing women and children. A great book, and i'm glad that oprah suggested it, so now they will git the publicity they need.
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Summary: important chronicle of human rights violations
Review: Stolen Lives ' Twenty Years in a Desert Jail is an important book. This is a compelling true story. It outlines the life of Malika Oufkir, daughter of Moroccan general Oufkir. Malika Oufkir has lead a unique life. Her story does not begin with imprisonment. It begins with being taken from her parents at age five to live in the palace. She becomes the adopted daughter of the ruling monarch, Muhammad V of Morocco. Although it is never fully explained, it appears that Malika is brought to the palace to be the companion for the king's daughter. She is distraught; her parents acquiesce. It is the first lesson in the power of the monarchy. Muhammad V dies and is replaced by his son Hassan II. You might expect Malika to be returned home. But no, Hassan might be offended if the it appears that the Oufkir family thinks less of him than of his father. And so, Malika stays in the palace. But this is just the beginning. Eventually, Malika returns to her family as a young adult. Later General Oufkir, Malika's father, who is also a high placed advisor to the king, leads a coup d'etat. He is killed. Now the family's story of imprisonment begins. The King has the family removed from Rabat by police. Throughout the story, the police, and army are used to keep the family imprisoned. Some knew the general and were sympathetic to the family. Others had lost family in the coup d'etat and were filled with hatred. The conditions for the family were continually reduced, until they were put in solitary confinement for seven years. The treatment of the Oufkir family reads like a Nazi concentration camp story, with brutal guards, arbitrary punishments, malnutrition, and the loss of humanity. Remember that their crime was being the family of General Oufkir. The youngest child at the time of their arrest was three! There is an escape that reads like fiction. The country is put on high alert while the police search for the four Oufkir children who managed to dig a tunnel to escape. It is only through contact with the French press and the outside world that they are finally saved. Even then it takes seven more years (with the family under house arrest) before they are finally allowed to leave the country. I find that I agree with most of the negative reviews. The book is poorly written, and poorly edited. There are contradictions, and incomplete explanations. It is confusing. It was originally published in France and this book is a translation from French. These shortcomings are annoying. But this is more than a story of a family who has been through a rough time. It is a chronicle of human rights violations that occurred in the last quarter of the 20th century. It is a story of people who 'disappeared' and lived to tell about it. This was worth a better effort by the co-author, who is supposed to be a professional writer, and the editor, who should have done a better job. Even with these serious shortcomings, this is an important story, and an important book. It is recommended.
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