In August 1984, Michigan housewife Betty Mahmoody accompanied her husband to his native Iran for a two-week vacation that turned into a permanent stay. To her horror, she found herself and her four-year-old daughter, Mahtob, virtual prisoners of a man rededicated to his Shiite Moslem faith, in a land where women are near-slaves and Americans despised. Their only hope for escape lay in a dangerous underground that would not take her child.

In this sequel to Not Without My Daughter, Betty Mahmoody describes her cultural readjustment to America, her constant fear of her husband's revenge, and her frustration with a legal system unable to offer her protection—but the story is not hers alone. Mahmoody describes her many encounters with others who have tried to escape similar situations, telling their dramatic stories with the sensitivity of one who knows only too well what they've been through and how far they still have to go. For The Love of a Child is a thrilling adventure with a vitally important message.