295 pages, $26 Prisons come in many forms, as Zainab Salbi discovered as she grew up in Baghdad in an elite wealthy family that was "unwilling" friends of Saddam Hussein.

An extremely charismatic man, in an instant he could turn on a friend and have them killed. He is shown to be selfish, spoiled and vindictive, a heavy drinker, a man with an appetite for sex and violence who admittedly murdered his mistress, a man who struck fear into the hearts of those around him.

Because of the nature of the material, the book cannot be described as an "easy read," but it gives a glimpse into the Iraqi culture under Saddam and draws pictures that leave a lingering impression.

Life was good when Zainab was young. Her parents, popular in Baghdad's elite social set, met Saddam at a party before he came into power. They were not impressed by him, and they had no interest in politics. But Saddam cultivated their friendship, and once he was in power, they dared not risk his wrath by refusing his invitations.

Zainab learned love from her parents - love of laughter, of family, of her country. She also learned fear from them. She saw it in the eyes of her mother, Alia.

Zainab includes excerpts from her mother's journals. The writings reflect how well her mother hid her emotions and stuck to the facts, not knowing who might see the journals.

Zainab saw fear in the haunted look of her father, Basil, Saddam's personal pilot, who knew he was always being watched and then was faced with false accusations.

She saw fear in the demeanor of the women who gathered in their home to eat and dance and laugh, and then retreat into the garden - away from the "walls that have ears" - to share the latest stories of what was happening.

Saddam, whom the children were taught to call Amo (uncle), controlled where they lived, who they spent time with, what they did. Any time of day or night, he could - and would - drop in unannounced, expecting to be entertained even in the middle of the night.

The fear and tension took its toll on her parents' marriage. Not always agreeing on how to please Saddam, they argued. Alia pleaded with her husband to take the family out of Iraq, but Basil refused. Zainab could never understand why her father, the pilot, didn't just fly them out of the country to freedom.

One night shortly after the family became a "special file," Zainab found her mother in her bedroom barely alive, surrounded by pills. Surviving the incident, she would tell Zainab only that she felt like she was "living in a cage," and she would often, after that, encourage her daughter to always be a free spirit.

As a young adult, Zainab entered university to earn a degree in languages, which she hoped would be her passport to freedom. Alia, wanting to get her daughter out of Iraq, arranged a marriage for her with an Iraqi living in Los Angeles.

During this time when she was alone in the U.S., homesick and still plagued by her fears, Zainab met Los Angeles journalist and author Laurie Becklund, who would later help her write her story.

Though the ensuing years were not easy, Zainab continued her education, eventually obtaining degrees from George Mason University and the London School of Economics.

Before Alia died, she came to live with Zainab. Together they found some peace as some of the questions that tormented Zainab through the years were answered.

Zainab also found love, and together she and her husband founded Women for Women International, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping women in war-torn countries. After telling the stories of many of these women, Zainab realized that only in telling her own story would she truly find freedom.

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