The Trees Have Goats

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A Story of Arab Woman’s Struggle for Love

by John Barber

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The Book Description

Set six years after the Arab Spring, Morocco remains home to remarkable levels of violence against women. Dr. Jack Lockhart, an American professor of forestry, arrives in Morocco to research the famed argan forests and develops a beautiful, father-daughter relationship with a young woman, Indela. Unbelievably, Indela’s boyfriend, Mansour, attacks Indela in Jack’s presence. When Jack confronts Mansour, Indela defends Mansour and rejects Jack. Distressed and confused, Jack resolves to remain in Morocco to study the lust and cruelty behind gendered violence. His efforts entangle him in intrigue. Along the way, we hear actual stories of abuse from Arab women. And Jack discovers his own need for personal liberation.

Further information on the book

This literary novel is the result of two years of careful research I conducted on the problem of gendered violence in North Africa and the Middle East, much of which took the form of interviews with over one dozen, North African and Middle Eastern women. The women’s stories, including that of a sixteen-year-old girl held captive for eight months and repeatedly sodomized, are included in the novel. The women’s names and situations are changed.

Who is John Barber

Born in New York City and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, John Barber is professor of theology at Whitefield Theological Seminary in Lakeland, Florida. John believes that great writers are great thinkers and that great thinkers are those of rich and varied experiences. Passionate about educating disadvantaged people groups, he has started two Bible colleges in East and Central Africa. Between his teaching responsibilities, he travels North Africa and the Middle East studying the role and maltreatment of women. He served as a pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America and for several years had the pleasure of teaching art history in Italy. He is a classically-trained musician, having studied at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. He holds a Ph.D. from Whitefield Theological Seminary in Intellectual Thought, and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Northwest University, South Africa. An avid surfer, he was bitten by a shark and lived to talk about it. He currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife, Bonnie. Together they have two grown children.

In The Trees Have Goats, John Barber pulls you in from the first sentence. His descriptive power is extraordinary, putting you in Morocco and bringing the characters to life. Entertaining, yet an important, eye-opening read. Compelling and terrifying. In the end, hopefully you will see with your soul instead of your eyes.”

—Max Davis, author of The Insanity of Unbelief: A Journalist’s Journey from Belief to Skepticism to Deep Faith

“The persecution and abuse of women is most often a hidden reality that needs to be exposed. I pray The Trees Have Goats will do just that. In a shame-based culture, once a woman’s perceived purity is violated, or even called into question, alienation and banishment from the greater community can ensue which...

—Floyd Brobbel, CEO, The Voice of the Martyrs Canada

Florida, USA