Girl who married at age 8 now set to become best-selling author

Nojoud Ali, now 10, is set to have a worldwide bestseller about her life as a child bride in Yemen. Nojoud was married at the age of 8 to a man of 29 who beat her regularly.

Her book is now being hailed as an international bestseller, with women's rights groups around the world picking up on the story. Her case was also taken up by politicians including Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Hollywood star Nicole Kidman. Nojoud was forced into an arranged marriage with a twenty-nine year old Faez Ali Thameur. In Yemen the minimum age for consent to marriage is 15, but families are permitted to overrule this law if they deem the girl 'ready.' It is being claimed that apparently the marriage was consummated. Noujoud said she was also regularly beaten by her husband. Noujoud’s father, Mohammad Ali Al-Ahdal, insisted in court that he had felt pressured to marry off his daughter after receiving threats from the would-be groom. He said was scared as his oldest daughter had been kidnapped several years earlier, then forced to marry her abductor. Noujoud's marriage was annulled last year. But this is not an isolated case. Yemen is infamous for its child brides. Noujoud's lawyer, Shatha Nasser, has stated: ‘Child brides are common in parts of Yemen, but this case received wider attention because it reached court.’ Now Nojoud and her eight year-old sister Hifa are able to go to school thanks to financial donations from human rights activists. Speaking from Paris, where she is busy promoting her book, Nojoud said: ‘Now I want to return to school so as to become a lawyer and help other girls like me.’ ‘Me, Nojoud, 10, divorcee’ is published by Michel Lafon.