Defiance

Every day, Loubna Mrie pledged allegiance to Bashar al-Assad. Her family, part of the Alawite minority that ruled the country, helped bring the Assad family to power. Her father, a formidable businessman with close ties to the regime, similarly ruled their household with absolute authority.
But everything changed in 2011, when the Arab Spring reached Syria and Loubna joined the resistance, smuggling supplies to rebels and risking her life as a photojournalist for Reuters. Her defiance would come at a devastating cost: her mother's murder, her father's disavowal, and the loss of her partner, American aid worker Peter Kassig, who was kidnapped and executed.
Told with fury and grace, Defiance is the unforgettable account of one woman's fight for freedom - against a dictator, a father, and the weight of inherited belief. From the streets of Aleppo to exile in the United States, it offers an electrifying first-hand portrait of extraordinary courage.

Loubna Mrie is a Syrian photographer, journalist, and writer. She covered the Syrian war as a photojournalist for Reuters from 2012 to 2014. She is a frequent commentator and researcher on Syrian and Middle Eastern affairs. She has been published in Time, the Washington Post, the New Republic, the Nation, Vice, and Al Jazeera, among other outlets.