Lost Without My Daughter

the long version

In 1987, American housewife Betty Mahmoody published Not Without My Daughter, which became a sensation. In the book, Betty and Mahtob, her five-year-old daughter, were kidnapped from the USA in 1984 and imprisoned in Tehran by her Iranian husband, Dr Sayed Mahmoody - aka 'Moody' - a man she vilified as a violent, sadistic monster. Betty's story culminated with a dramatic escape, as she takes her daughter from Iran over the Zagros Mountains and into Turkey. The book sold 12 million copies and inspired the 1991 Hollywood film of the same name, starring Oscar-winner Sally Field. For twenty years Betty's husband has kept silent. In 2002, a Finnish documentary entitled "Ilman tytärtäni" tells Sayed Mahmoody's controversial side of the story. Lost Without My Daughter, published posthumously, is also a cultural and political history of Iran, from the revolution to the present day.