Forbidden Love
Encyclopedia
Forbidden Love is a book
written by Norma Khouri
, purporting to tell a true story about her best friend in Jordan
. The story describes her friend Dalia's love for a Christian
soldier, kept secret from her Muslim
father due to conflict in religion. Her father eventually finds out and stabs Dalia to death in a so-called honor killing
. A year after publication, it was discovered that Khouri had fabricated the tale and that the story was fictional.
woman living in Amman
, Jordan
. When she falls in love with Michael, a young Catholic
major
in the British Army
, she is forced to keep the relationship a secret and rely on her friend Norma to act as an intermediary
. Although the lovers are only able to be alone together on a handful of occasions and Dalia's virginity remains intact, her father is so enraged when he hears of the affair from her older brother that he kills her two months after her twenty-sixth birthday.
, won a Walkley Award(2004) for investigative journalism for his exposé.
written by Norma Khouri
Norma Khouri
Norma Khouri is the pen name of author Norma Bagain Toliopoulos . She is the author of the book titled Honor Lost in America, and Forbidden Love in Australia and the Commonwealth, released by Random House in 2003..Her best-selling book, which purported to described the honor killing of her best...
, purporting to tell a true story about her best friend in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. The story describes her friend Dalia's love for a Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
soldier, kept secret from her Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
father due to conflict in religion. Her father eventually finds out and stabs Dalia to death in a so-called honor killing
Honor killing
An honor killing or honour killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community...
. A year after publication, it was discovered that Khouri had fabricated the tale and that the story was fictional.
Plot summary
The novel centers on the life of Dalia, a young MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
woman living in Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. When she falls in love with Michael, a young Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, she is forced to keep the relationship a secret and rely on her friend Norma to act as an intermediary
Intermediary
An intermediary is a third party that offers intermediation services between two trading parties. The intermediary acts as a conduit for goods or services offered by a supplier to a consumer...
. Although the lovers are only able to be alone together on a handful of occasions and Dalia's virginity remains intact, her father is so enraged when he hears of the affair from her older brother that he kills her two months after her twenty-sixth birthday.
Hoax scandal
Sydney Morning Herald journalist Malcolm Knox uncovered Khouri as a fraud in 2004, a year after the book's release, exposing that she fabricated the story and sold it untruthfully as a memoir. She had lived in Chicago for most of her life and was married with two children. As a result, publisher Random House pulled the book off the shelves in Australia and England indefinitely. Knox, with fellow Australian journalist Caroline OveringtonCaroline Overington
Caroline Overington is an Australian journalist and author.Born in May 1970, Overington grew up in Melton, Victoria where she attended Melton South Primary School and Melton High School. Post secondary school she began her journalism cadetship with The Age Suburban Newspapers. She later took up a...
, won a Walkley Award(2004) for investigative journalism for his exposé.