In their own words, Osama Bin Laden’s first wife Najwa and son Omar share the astonishing story of the man they knew–or thought they knew. Growing Up Bin Laden tells the story of a young girl who married her gentle and kindly first-cousin, enjoying a happy early marriage with the groom of her choice.

But as world events thrust her husband into a frenzy of militant activities, his once pleasing behaviour is altered; and Najwa and her innocent children’s lives become a maze of escaping from one country to another. Osama’s fourth-born son, Omar–who wanted nothing but his father’s love, describes his early years, life with his father in Afghanistan and his eventual escape to Saudi Arabia.

Together, their powerful story as mother and son give us an extraordinary view of a man hated by so many, yet both loved and feared by his family, including: Osama’s disapproval of modern conveniences, including electricity and medicine Osama’s plan to toughen up his sons by taking them into the desert without food or water Omar’s horror at the murder of a boy his own age by members of a jihadist group living among them in the Sudan What happened in the bin Laden home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the morning of September 11, 2001; Omar’s surprise phone call from his mother who escaped from Afghanistan only two days before the New York terrorist attack.