Jean Sasson wrote a book with a wife and son of Osama’s, and yes, she has stories.

Why did Omar bin Laden, Osama’s fourth son, choose you to write “Growing Up bin Laden”?

It’s hard for an Arab person to open up with an American they don’t know, but my books on Princess Sultana were all over Saudi Arabia, and he had heard through some of the family who knew her that I was a person that could be trusted. In February 2008, he sent an e-mail to me through my publisher’s Web site.

More shocking was that Najwa, the first of Bin Laden’s wives, also told you her story. Did you see that as an act of betrayal?

I always said I felt like Osama wouldn’t be nearly so bothered by Omar as he would by Najwa. I really believe she only did it because her son asked her to. And I got the feeling that once she started the process, she enjoyed talking about her life. This is a talented woman with a lot of promise who wasn’t able to sit in a garden without upsetting her husband.

We learn from Omar that pretty much whenever Bin Laden wasn’t neglecting his children for his terrorism work, he was beating them. Is this a revenge memoir?

I don’t think that would even enter his mind. Omar has a pure heart. He just always wanted a normal life, and he couldn’t have one with his father.

What’s something the family told you about Osama that made your jaw drop?

Osama had these kicks where he would take the boys out into the desert and have them march long distances and not give them water. But after 1994, after the Saudis froze his assets and revoked his passport, and there had been attempts on his life, he became more paranoid and decided that the whole family had to survive with nothing. He started including the wives and the small children, and he would drive them into the desert and have them dig holes and sleep in them, using only the sand to keep them warm.