Princess: A True Story Of Life Behind The Veil In Saudi Arabia (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
I finished this book and set it aside, wanting to immediately write an incensed rage review at a world where inequalities like this still exist and atrocities are still committed against women in the name of religion. Granted, a lot of what occurs to our Sultana and her relatives and friends can be categorized more as cultural practices instead of religious mandates, but to me countries like Saudi Arabia and others have found a way to fuse those two separate categories into one grossly unfair practice against the female sex.Cultural laws upheld by religion. Or religious laws upheld by culture. Either way they've meshed so effortlessly together that sometimes it's difficult to determine when something or someone is being scrutinized through the eyes of religion or through the veins of established culture. It was also one of the things I found most frustrating about the novel. Sultana is an anomaly. Standing up for her rights. Believing that she and all females are worth more than their society/religion allow. But the apathy of some of her relatives and friends I found most sorrowful. It's akin to brainwashing and many of these women believe all of the lies they have been brought up with their whole lives. Humbly accepting their status and any life altering plans or direction their fathers/brothers/husbands deem appropriate for them.I'm glad I didn't write that review though. It would have been so full of expletives and blind rage that I don't think I would have been able to clearly expressed my thoughts on this book - though my feelings towards it would have been easily decipherable. I read the first half of the book fairly quickly in one sitting. Each chapter bringing intense feelings of anger and anguish, as well as respect and admiration of Sultana's fiery and defiant character. Then I did an internet search on the author to see if I could discover more of how she went about communicating with the Sultana and how those interactions came to result in the publication of such a powerful novel.Surprise, surprise. I discovered a controversy. Namely, the fact that the authenticity of Jean Sasson's novel has been called into question, as has the identity and even existance of the Sultana - the voice of the novel. I didn't really know what to think. Basically all we have is hearsay and he said, she said situations. The only facts that are clear is that Jean Sasson spent roughly about 12 years living in Saudi Arabia, and four years of those she spent working in a hospital in the city of Riyadh. I can only imagine the kinds of things she saw and experienced during her time abroad. I can only imagine that they played a major role in the realization of this novel.I went back to the book, expecting to be a bit more skeptical after my research, but finding my feelings to be just as strong as they were before. Seething at the injustices. Crying at heartbreaking hopelessness that is pervasive throughout the narrative in spite of Sultana's largely optimistic outlook. I realized that even if Sultana didn't exist in the way Jean Sasson claimed, it didn't matter. A rudimentary internet search on the conditions of women in Saudi Arabia will all but confirm their second class status as Sultana so effectively demonstrates over and over and over again. Most of the events in this novel occurred over 40 years ago and small strides have been made as far as women's rights are concerned. In Princess, stories of girls as young as 12 or 13 being married to men as old as 60 are heartbreaking and believable. Today a women's rights website for Saudi Arabia states that the average age for girls to marry is now 25. Women were also mostly denied education across the board, but today they receive schooling and most even attend and graduate from colleges with degrees. Changes have come, but slowly, and the status of women in one of the wealthiest countries on earth still is staggeringly archaic compared to what women in western countries experience.A simple internet search will reveal from established and respected world news outlets that women are still considered second class citizens and subject to the harshest of punishments. Women drivers are flogged, as are rape victims. Honor killings still occur. They are still forced to cover themselves in abayas and niqabs. Only eyes are allowed to show. Men can take up to four wives and most of them do - and they can add even more wives if they are royalty and can afford it. Women are still segregated away from men, in the business world, in restaurants, in places of worship, even in their own homes - not unlike the situation of African-American's back when they were considered second class citizens, before the civil rights movement.And the sex? I felt this book was all about sex. Not in a naked bedroom scene kind of way, but in the pervasive way that it seems to infiltrate every single part of their culture. Honestly, the Saudi Arabian man views westerners as sex crazed - all western women as whores - but I don't think I've ever seen a culture so obsessed and dominated by sex as Saudi Arabia. In short, I don't know if Sasson's Sultana really exists or not as an individual. But as a whole, as a representation of the status and oppression of women in Saudi Arabia I believe in many ways she does. The book was fascinating when I got past my anger and indignation. It prompted me to conduct more research on the state of women's rights in Saudi Arabia as compared to other countries in the middle east and the rest of the world. Any book that gets you to think, that expands your knowledge, even if it only prompts you to find out more on a certain subject, is a book worth reading. And this one is. Because of the controversy regarding the validity of this book as well as accusations of plagiarism, I have only given this novel four stars instead of five. When you call something a true story you better hell have all the documentation you need to prove it.
Read on the blog!!Okay, I might be way too harsh with this review but that's only because I have never hated a book more than this one right here. So here goes my rant. This book is said to be about Sultana (Not real name) who is a Saudi Princess and even though she belongs to the royal family she is bound by strict rules that define that women are only used for sexual relief and to bear the children for their husbands. And how they are enslaved by their fathers, husbands and brothers. First of all, what kind of a person who belongs to a family of famous people would want such intimidate details of her life story (which is different than others, obviously!) to be written by a foreign author and available for publish in abroad? Secondly, how is it possible that when such details were put in a book for everyone to read, how did her family not find it out? The facts in the book are obvious enough for anyone to understand that it's fake. Fact #1: She said that she wasn't allowed to go into the mosque. Being a Saudi Princess she should have known that Mosques have a separate section for women. Fact #2: It's said that women were forced to marry after puberty. I agree that women were (and in some places still are) being made to marry men right after maturation. But it was to avoid going around and having sex before marriage as doing that is unlawful in Islam. But but but I have heard that it's mentioned in the Quran (the holy book of Muslims) that it is the woman who gets to decide when and whom she wants to marry. Remember that it's always the humans who twist rules to fit their requirement.Fact #3: Woman are given the highest respect in Islam. Women are told to cover themselves so as not to attract the attention of unwanted men but men are not even allowed to look at them with bad intentions as thinking of a bad deed is equal to doing one. And to support this fact, a quote from the Quran itself (translated of course): He who is best to his wife is the best man among you. (However, I agree that polygamy is allowed in Islam but I don't think that anybody in the modern generation follows that as everyone knows that it's difficult enough to handle the expenses and lectures of one woman)Fact #4: Also a father who educates a minimum of three daughters has gained a palace in Heaven. This is another thing from the holy book that shows that education is not prerogative to women/girls.Fact #5: There is a story kind of thing that I have heard. It's about this man who asks the prophet "Who is the one worthy of more respect after Allah (The god worshiped by Muslims)? and the prophet says "Your mother". The man asks one again "Who after that?" and the prophet says "Your mother". Once again the man asks "And who after that?" and the prophet says the same thing again. For the last time the man asks "Who after that?" and then the prophet says "Your father".This does not mean that Fathers are not respected enough, they are but it's just that Mothers are held higher.There are many facts that I can go on about (like the one about piercing the vagina or something which is absolutely stupid and I think that the author has just made it up) but I just wanted to tell you guys that anyone who believes in this book and let's themselves be manipulated by it, Islam is not a bad religion. It has given it's followers many rules to follow but it's for their own advantage. Like listening to music and watching movies is not allowed in Islam, it's not forbidden but it's said so as to avoid any thing that takes one away from worshiping their God. I think it's the same for Protestants (I heard that like Muslims they too are supposed to cover their heads, not drink, not have sex before marriage, not worship images or idols of God, not listen to music or watch movies and not wear gold).I accept that women are oppressed but anyone would be fool to believe that Islam is a religion that promotes it. Women of every religion are oppressed by men of different religions. Just because one man from one particular religion does so does not mean that every man of that religion does it. The same goes for Terrorism.So this is what I had to say about this book. Since I hate this one so much I don't think I will be reading the other two that follow this one. And I won't be rating this one since I have nothing to give it, but I won't be stopping you from reading it either. You can read it for yourself and understand that it's the biggest hoax ever.Lots of hatred for the author but love and pasta for you guys,Raven
What do You think about Princess: A True Story Of Life Behind The Veil In Saudi Arabia (2005)?
Hypocrisy rules the land of the religion that strongly condemned the act the act of hypocrisy centuries ago!The true story of one of the princesses of the royal house of Al Saud in Saudi Arabia is told in a fashion that is both charming and riveting. The veil that guards the women of the Saudi Arabia also hides behind it years of cruelty and injustice.It was a very strange experience to read this book. It appears highly prophetic to find out that the very people who call themselves the keepers of the faith consider themselves above it. They seem to be guarding their own follies from the eyes of world rather than guarding themselves against the temptations and evils that may lead them astray. The many atrocities mentioned as to have been committed in the name of faith and Islam has no basis in it at all. For example, the case of the young girl who was punished by death for fornication right after giving birth was a very high act of injustice. In case a woman’s honour is put to question she has the right to demand four witnesses from her accusers. I am sure as those teenage boys had no access to such witnesses considering the girl was completely innocent, her death was not a punishment but instead would be deemed as murder. It is sad to see that the name of the religion which holds the honour of a woman more precious is being used to guard the false honour of the hypocritical men of the Saudi society. It seems clear from this story that the true essence of their religion eludes them and they follow it only ritualistically, all ideas of modesty and morality starting and finishing on the ‘purity’ and ‘piety’ of their women, when in such regards of spirituality men and women are declared absolute equals in Islam, sharing the same rewards and punishments in this world and that hereafter. Islam remains misconstrued and misinterpreted even among the people who speak the language of its holy book. A prime example of this is the treatment of maids as slaves by some of the families. Considering slavery was outlawed by the mutual agreement of all nations the laws concerning the slaves no longer apply. However, even if one was to ponder over the matter, countless accounts throughout the lives of the Prophet and early converts shows that kindness and compassion was preached in their treatment instead of cruelty and violence. Freeing of slaves, whether Muslim or otherwise, was considered a great act of humanity. Moreover, the purchasing of a slave and hiring of maid are two very different things. The maid is an employee, a free woman, upon whom the employer has no personal right. The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) preached and practiced a kind and compassionate behaviour towards the wife and children, whether male or female. This idea seems to be lost to most of the families depicted. Forgiveness is admired in the religion of Islam yet its followers seem to stubbornly unforgiving it is a shock that they seem to have even a modicum of understanding of their faith, apart from the harsher to harshest punishments that they can execute on those below them in ranks and power. The laws that apply to women also apply to men yet only the women seem to be punished and the men forgotten. A land which is the home of the religion of justice breeds so much injustice, it is unfathomable. The education of women was encouraged by the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) himself and is only logical even if she is to only fulfil her role as a household-runner and a mother. How will she learn to manage and teach her children without having a firm grounding herself? No one seems to notice this. Even more importantly, however, it seems ignored that one of the greatest Muslim scholars ever to walk the Earth was a woman, Aisha (RA), the Prophet’s wife, was born to the same land, which now seems to accept only the male interpretations of religion and law. If in those historic times a woman was allowed to freely express her thoughts and opinions, under the banner of Islam nevertheless, why can’t she now?This book raises a number of questions, including its authenticity, I have to admit. I felt that there is enough truth in the words of the author about the conditions of the Saudi women and society that they cannot be ignored. The treatment of women in Saudi Arabia breaches all forms of human rights and cross all borders of humanity! Hypocrisy should not rule any land which runs under the banner of the great religion of Islam and sadly that is all it does!!!
—Anum
3.5 starsI was slightly put off by the way Princess Sultana tried to portray her life as somehow representative of what average Saudi women have to endure. The reality for most women there is so much worse. She does mention some examples of what happened to other women, but her tone is often self-pitying. "I was born free, yet today I am in chains." Give me a break! Her life of leisure was a dream compared to the lives of most Saudi women. Here's what filled her days: "Since the servants fed the children their morning meal and organized their days, I generally slept until noon. After a snack of fresh fruits, I would soak in the tub in a leisurely manner. After dressing, I would join Kareem for a late lunch. We would lounge and read after our meal, and then Kareem and I would take a short nap...I attended women's parties in the late afternoon...We almost always attended a dinner party in the evenings, for we were of a most select group that entertained mixed couples..." You poor baby! Such a hard life. And when things were at their worst, you had unlimited financial resources and gullible private plane pilots at your disposal so you could run away undetected, taking your children with you. If life there is so bad, why did you go back after escaping so successfully? I did find the book to be an interesting peek into the lives of the Saudi royals, but I wouldn't read the follow-up books. Sultana's friend Jean Sasson writes well enough, but she makes a lot of errors in language usage that should have been caught by editors. For example, she uses "restrain" when she means "refrain," and "my duplicity of the pilot" instead of "toward the pilot."I can't help it, these mistakes just jump off the page at me.
—Jeanette "Astute Crabbist"
This book really affected me. I read this book about 13 years ago and still have not been able to erase the images from my mind. I found the treatment of women, as portrayed in this book, appalling. I was not prepared for the startling realism portrayed in this book. I gave it a favorable rating because it truly made me grateful that I am an American citizen. I did not give it a 4 or 5 because I found it to be emotionally disturbing. I would not recommend this book to anyone who prefers to read about fairytale princesses with happy endings.
—Annette
