The Uncaged Sky by Kylie Moore-Gilbert
‘The sky above our heads was uncaged and unlike us, free.’ The Uncaged Sky is Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s remarkable story of courage and resilience, and a powerful meditation on hope, solidarity and what it means to be free. On 12 September 2018 British-Australian academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert was arrested at Tehran Airport by Iran’s feared Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Convicted of espionage in a shadowy trial presided over by Iran’s most notorious judge, she was given a 10 year sentence and ultimately spent 804 days incarcerated in Tehran’s Evin and Qarchak prisons. Held in a filthy solitary confinement cell for months, and subjected to relentless interrogation, Kylie was pushed to her limits by extreme physical and psychological deprivation. Her only lifeline was the covert friendships she made with other prisoners inside the maximum-security compound, communicating through the air vents between cells, and by hiding secret letters in the narrow outdoor balcony where she was led, blindfolded, for an hour each day. To survive, Kylie began to fight back. Multiple hunger strikes, co-ordinated protests and a daring escape attempt led to her transfer to the isolated desert prison, Qarchak, to live among dangerous convicted criminals. On 25 November 2020, after more than two years of struggle, Kylie was finally released in a high-stakes three-nation prisoner-swap deal, laying bare the complex game of global politics in which she had become a valuable pawn.
‘Kylie Moore-Gilbert is one pretty remarkable woman’ -- Sarah Abo
‘The Uncaged Sky is a brilliant and powerful book’ -- Ann Cunningham * Booktopia *
‘Moments in her memoir The Uncaged Sky will leave readers breathless. The sheer terror, uncertainty and gnawing dread of a brutal regime closing in all around ... Powerfully and artfully written, the book has moments of joy shining through: the loving friendships made inside prison; the exhilaration of “escaping” to that uncaged sky, standing on the prison roof; and the strength Moore-Gilbert found to defy her captors amid the ceaseless cruelty of her incarceration.’ -- Ben Doherty * The Guardian *
‘a remarkable story of courage’ * The Canberra Times *
‘The Uncaged Sky is a brilliant and powerful book’ -- Ann Cunningham * Booktopia *
‘Moments in her memoir The Uncaged Sky will leave readers breathless. The sheer terror, uncertainty and gnawing dread of a brutal regime closing in all around ... Powerfully and artfully written, the book has moments of joy shining through: the loving friendships made inside prison; the exhilaration of “escaping” to that uncaged sky, standing on the prison roof; and the strength Moore-Gilbert found to defy her captors amid the ceaseless cruelty of her incarceration.’ -- Ben Doherty * The Guardian *
‘a remarkable story of courage’ * The Canberra Times *
Kylie Moore-Gilbert is a scholar of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Kylie speaks several Middle Eastern languages and has spent significant periods travelling and conducting academic research in the region. She was falsely charged with espionage and imprisoned in Iran from September 2018 to November 2020 before being released in a prisoner exchange deal negotiated by the Australian government.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781761151477 |
| ISBN 10 | 1761151479 |
| Title | The Uncaged Sky |
| Author | Kylie Moore-Gilbert |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Ultimo Press |
| Year published | 2023-04-05 |
| Number of pages | 416 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |