Anahid Hagopian grew up in Aleppo, Syria, in the years leading up to the Second World
War. Her childhood was spent amidst civil unrest, conflict, and uncertainty, faced with challenges around education, identity, women?s rights, and family secrets, including her mother’s precarious and sometimes dangerous social position as a wealthy courtesan in French-occupied Syria.

This is a story about the unbroken bond between mother and daughter, and the sacrifices made by one mother so that her daughter could achieve her education, which she always called her “golden bracelet of independence”.

This posthumous memoir is edited and annotated by Anahid’s daughter, Antonia Swann,
who promised her mother on her deathbed that she would share her story with the world.