Sema
On September 15, Nadia Murad, the Ezidi human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, released her second book, titled I Choose My Beginning: A Story of Courage and Struggle. The book follows her first memoir, The Last Girl, published in 2017.
While her first book primarily documented the Ezidi genocide, her captivity, and the crimes committed against Ezidi women, her new memoir focuses on her life after liberation. Murad recounts a decade of experiences, including her international human rights work, her pursuit of justice, meetings with world leaders, and her efforts to rebuild a normal life through education, friendship, love, and starting a family.
One of the book’s central themes is the right of survivors to define their own identities after traumatic experiences. Murad emphasizes that she does not want her life to be defined solely by captivity and violence. She writes about her independence, the influence of her mother, her relationship with her future husband, and how she learned to choose when and how to tell her story.
As with her first book, Murad co-authored the new memoir with journalist Jenna Krajeski. The foreword was written by renowned American human rights activist Gloria Steinem. The book is 304 pages long.
In another significant milestone, Murad was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, jointly with physician Denis Mukwege, for their efforts to combat the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
The title I Choose My Beginning carries a symbolic meaning, reflecting Murad’s voice not only as a survivor of genocide but also as a woman determined to shape the course of her own life. For the Ezidi community, the book holds particular significance as it sheds light on what happens to individuals and communities after the tragedy of 2014—when the pursuit of justice continues while lives and communities still need to be rebuilt.
The book is now available in English in both print and e-book editions.