In The Land Of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey In The Saudi Kingdom (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
An interesting look into the people who live in ultra-religious Saudi Arabia and one woman's personal journey to find her Islamic faith and attempt to parse it with the rampant racism and anti-semitism of her peers (that eventually compels her to leave). The writing is pretty standard for a memoir, though it is clear to see how she feels so many of her female friends are triumphant figures in the face of oppression as she is quick to compare them to Gloria Steinem and so on as she goes along. Not exactly compelling, but interesting enough for those curious of what life is sometimes like for even the privileged (the author and her friends are doctors) in a country where volatile religious doctrine is a part of everyday life. This is a somewhat fascinating memoir of a woman physician's two year stint working in a hospital in Riyadh apparently from 2000-2001, and her experiences going into a totally different culture. During that time she became friends with several highly educated women, had a religious rebirth when she went to Hajj, met an interesting man who she develop affection toward, and experienced the shameful rules women must live under. Many of her experiences were fascinating and a bit upsetting to read about. I only gave this book 3 stars because of the quality of the writing. It was too long and there were many places where I had to skim through pages and pages of physical descriptions of people and their designer clothing. She was also repetitive at times, and the conversations, which were reconstructed from memory, seemed more like stilted lectures on Islam and Saudi life than true conversations. Also, the women were all extremely beautiful, the men all strong and handsome, and the book contained too much of a litany of brand name dropping. (We get it--they were all very wealthy.) I came away with the impression that she was not very interested in the experiences of the migrant workers who support and take care of the wealthy, such as the Filipino maids, or even the lives of those Saudi people who do not have the benefits of wealth and education, other than a few anecdotes related to her work as a physician. I will need to look elsewhere for that information. I did learn a lot about life as a woman and life in general in Saudi Arabia. I was somewhat heartbroken by the reaction many of her co-workers had at 9/11, saddened by the anti-Semitism, and amazed that at least one highly educated male physician was a Holocaust denier. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more, with the caveat that it is too long, and can be a snoozer at times.
What do You think about In The Land Of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey In The Saudi Kingdom (2008)?
Fascinating look inside a completely cloistered world. Great topic, but needed better editing.
—chilenese
Interesting story, but could have been a little better written.
—Penguinlover614
Three stars for content, but only two for literary quality.
—IamKK
great insight for women in saudi arabia
—babiigirl116
