The Tears of Sheba: Tales of Survival and Intrigue in Arabia

By Khadija al-Salami and Charles Hoots

Loyalty, honour, murder, family feuds and survival in a setting reminiscent of the Arabian Nights.

Yemen in the 1960s was a society where loyalty, blood ties and honour meant everything, yet murder, forced marriages, family feuds and public beheadings were common. The Tears of Sheba is the inspiring story of Khadija Al-Salami, whose personal struggle for survival shows a deep-rooted love for her country and its people.

Khadija tells of a childhood devastated by the impact of civil war, in a culture that allowed her to be married at the age of ten to an older man she had never met. Determined to escape the poverty, death and destruction that permeated her life, and with extraordinary tenacity, Khadija asked the local radio station to let her broadcast a programme for children, later using the money she earned to travel to the United States and forge a new life for herself.

The Tears of Sheba is a magnificent tour-de-force, passionately told, spellbinding and uplifting – a tale of indomitable spirit and human triumph.