Rating: 
Summary: She is out of touch...
Review: There is no doubt that Malika Oufkir and her family suffered in those 20 years in prison, but there is another side to this story that should not be ignored. As a Moroccan-born French citizen and contemporary of Malika Oufkir, I too grew up in Morocco during those years and witnessed the life of the typical Moroccan citizen in contrast to the powerful and corrupt elite milieu which she grew up in. Ms. Oufkir obviously suffers from dillusions... She generally brushes aside the fact that her father, General Oufkir, was a ruthless killer himself. The Ben Barka affair is nothing but the tip of the iceberg, and while nothing was ever proved, it is generally accepted that he was the one behind the 1971 attempt on Hassan II's life at the palace of Skirrat, as well as the 1972 attempted downing of the Royal Air Maroc Boeing 727 by Moroccan Air Force officers flying F4s out of the former American airbase in Kenitra. She absolutely ignores the corruption that her father was deeply involved in. She proceeds to explain that "her parents were not ostentatious" within two sentences of describing the "modest" family home which her father had purchased "on his Army Captain's salary", including a swimming pool, private cinema, 10 car garage, private guest quarters, and more, in a country where the 1999 per capita GDP is under $3,600 (a marked improvement over the 1997 figure of $1,246). A home such as this would be considered a mansion even today in a wealthy economy such as the US so imagine what it must have been in relation to typical "modest" housing in Morocco 40 years ago. Certainly not within reach of the typical Army Captain. It is interesting and entertaining reading but should be read with more than an ounce of healthy skepticism.
Rating: 
Summary: wait for paperback
Review: vapid. very interesting material that falls flat. promising premise that never leads up to potential. take it out of the library, do not buy.
Rating: 
Summary: inspiring but sometimes contradicting
Review: I found this book very interesting and gripping. I admire Ms Oufkir's strength, sense of humour and spirit. It is a good book to read regarding human dignity. However, there are a lot of things which are very contradictary and rather unbelievable. I suspect the author is hiding something and may not be telling us the whole truth. The book could be better written. Ms Fitoussi is not doing justice to Oufkir's experience.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent depiction of human survival
Review: Starts out as a wonderful depiction of a girl's life of luxury and comfort and leads into a life full of sorrow, brutallity and unimaginable suffering. Throughout the book, you find an incredible way of retelling real life events that are funny, amazing, terrible and brutal. But above all, you find yourself living and suffering along with the character and her awesome way of dealing with terrible circumstances. You cry, suffer, laugh and struggle along with her. At all times, you feel like she is next to you telling you her story. You won't want to put the book down until you are done.
Rating:
Summary: Change the way you view your life
Review: "Stolen Lives" is about the horror one family is forced to endure in Morocco when they are imprisoned for 20 years and starved nearly to death after their father tries to kill the King. Malika, along with her mother and brothers and sisters live in conditions that seem almost too awful to be real. Her youngest brother is only 3 years old when imprisoned, and after 20 years, when they are released, he knows nothing of the world. Concrete ground startles him, as all he knows is the dirt floor of his small prison cell that had to be his playground. This is an amazing story of the survival of the human spirit. If you compare your own life to the lives of this family, you will never again be able to judge your life in the same way. You will have to think about what is really important in life and what is the fluff that is just taking up precious time while you are living the one life we all get. This book is as gratifying as it is horrifying. It leaves you with many questions you'd personally like to ask Malika Oufkir, the woman the story is based on. I would recommend this book highly. For entertainment, but more importantly, for inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: Good story-poorly written
Review: I thought this was an incredible story and I enjoyed it thoroughly. And it gives me one more reason to be thankful that I live in the United States. However, not being a critic for writing skills, I did think this book was poorly written. Sometimes I would read a sentence and think, "huh?" And it didn't necessarily flow all that well either. At one point she was talking about something that happened when she was 18 and then shortly thereafter, she was 16 years old. But again, it was an interesting story.
Rating:
Summary: Not a strong book
Review: While I found the plot of the book to be very engaging, I was disappointed with the writing. This is not a well-written book; perhaps some of the eloquence was lost in translation. Nevertheless, it is a good read if you can wade through the tedium of 20 years in prison.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredible True Story!
Review: I felt that this is one of the most incredible books I've read yet. There are so many good reviews here, that I don't want to reiterate them. Her book was a quick read, and suspensful, that I didn't want to put it down. I finished it on a six hour plane ride. Although she doesn't describe in great detail why her father staged a coup... but then again how would she know his reasoning, and where would she be able to get truthful information when probably most of his supporters were killed and his enemies want to bury the truth. There are some other facts that would make this book more interesting and historical, but I can see how difficult that would be. Overall, I found this book captivating and, heart-wrenching. It's a must read!!
Rating: 
Summary: contradictions, contradictions, contradictions
Review: This book was one of the most poorly written books I have read in a long time. I am still struck by the contradicting information given. Although I do not doubt that this woman and her family may have gone through some oppressive and victimizing experiences, I found myself re-reading and re-reading to verify the contradictions throughout the text. For example, the author stated that they were isolated and did not have contact with the outside world but would state time and time again examples of letters exchanged with family members and friends, on one page the author lost all of her hair from illness and on the next page her hair was at waist length, on another page examples of lack of medical care and on another talk of prescription medications taken, and on one page descriptions of personal items that were confiscated and on the next page the precious items would reappear. I am still amazed and skeptical of the radio that runs on batteries that never seem to run out out of juice in twenty years. I would like to think that the work was poorly written instead of calling the author a liar. However, this oppinion began after completing one third of the book and although I am over half way finished I am struggling to finish it.
Rating:
Summary: To hell and back
Review: Now I have some idea of what it is like to go to hell and come back alive. Shattered, but alive. Malika Oufkir's autobiography, co-written with French journalist Michele Fitoussi, is extraordinarily candid for someone who has been in prison most of her life. She and her family have experienced crushing, soul-suffocating oppression which has left severe, permanent damage on each member. While their lives have improved, to a certain extent they will all stay locked in time. It is nothing short of a miracle, therefore, that someone who has been so repressed, can find the courage to reveal themselves with such frankness. Stolen Lives is a truely unique story of the survival of the human spirit, a suspenseful fusion of fairytale, horror and thriller. It was one of those books I couldn't put down. After I read the book several months ago, I interviewed Malika Oufkir for several stories I was writing about her. She wavers between fragility and toughness, she is both young and old, compassionate and passionate and displays great courage as well as great fear. Malika has paid an unusually cruel and high price for her freedom of expression. Before reading the book, it would benefit readers to do some background reading on events in Morocco which led to the incarceration of the Oufkir family. There are various sites on the Internet detailing the 1972 attempted coup d'etat by Malika's father, General Mohammed Oufkir. Also, reading on the structure of Moroccan society would be useful to understand what it was like to live under the iron-fisted rule of a feudal monarchy.
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