Daughters of Arabia - Softcover

Sasson, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553813773 ISBN 13: 9780553813777

Publisher: Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group), 2000

Synopsis

Reader's of Princess Sultana's true story, Princess, were gripped by her powerful indictment of women's lives behind the veil within the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Now, the princess and Jean Sasson turn the spotlight on Sultana's two teenage daughters, Maha and Amani. During her own youth, Sultana chafed under the harsh social system into which she was born. Today, despite untold wealth and privilege, Princess Sultana cannot buy the rights and freedoms women in other cultures possess, for herself, or for her daughters. Although Sultana lives with a constant fear of retribution--even death at the hand of her own father or brother, her passion to provide her two daughters with a better life transcends her fear and fuels her desire for change.As second-generation members of the royal family who have benefited from Saudi oil wealth, Maha and Amani have known nothing but opulence and wealth from the moment of their birth. Yet, stilled by the unbearable restrictive lifestyle imposed on them, Maha and Amani have reacted in equally desperate ways.Maha is a headstrong beauty driven by fear and isolation due to Saudi Arabia's feudal justice. Described by her father as a girl of brilliant fragments, Maha's gifted mind cannot focus on one goal. When Maha becomes involved in a lesbian relationship, she ends having an emotional breakdown and requires psychiatric treatment in London. Amani, the youngest daughter, rebels in her way during the religious frenzy of Haj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah. Once a sweet and placid animal-lover, Amani emerges almost overnight from her dormant religious faith and embraces Islamic beliefs with unnerving intensity. Amani's fundamental fanaticism threatens to destroy her mother's personal quest to imporove women's lot in her native land. With candor and humility, Sultana shares the joy, frustration, and dark intervals of my fear of Saudi Arabian motherhood and marriage. She details the difficulties inherent in raising d

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Review

"Women with everything but freedom... gripping revelations" (Daily Mail)

"Brutality hidden behind the veil... more horrific stories" (Sunday Express)

"If it didn't come from within palace walls, no one would believe it... Sad, funny, and gripping" (Daily Mail)

"Sasson's sequel is yet another page-turner... An eye-opening account" (Publishers Weekly)

From the Author

Thanking my readers
Although I have written more detailed comments to readers under the "Princess" title, I did want to take a moment to say I'm so pleased that the readers of "Princess," were compelled to read this second title about "Sultana."

Honestly, in some ways, I favor "Daughters of Arabia," over the first title, since I believe this second book gives readers a more complete look at life behind the veil in Saudi Arabia. The first years of Sultana's life were so turbulent with tragedies that it must have been difficult for readers to find the good that does exist in Saudi Arabia. (Although there were many wonderful stories about Sultana and her sisters.) Certainly, every thinking person acknowledges that good & bad run through every country...

However, I had so much fun writing about "Sultana's" tricks on her wicked brother, "Ali." While writing about her experience of wearing his "magic" undergarment, it took me forever to tell the story because I was laughing so hard. And, the story of "Sultana" macing her overwrought cousin is hilarious!

Still, we can't get away from the main theme of these books, which is the terrible plight lived daily by so many women in the world. And, I would like to stress that the Princess is a believing Muslim, and the books about her life, and the lives of other women, have no complaint with the Muslim faith. However, there is valid reason to complain about men who misinterpret the words of Islam's holy Prophet, simply in order to retain complete control over all females.

How can it be that men are still holding women in sexual bondage in the year 1999? How tragic & sad...

Once again, the Princess and I are grateful to have found such a wonderful audience. By showing your care & concern about women in a country far from your own reality, you are a force to be reckoned with...

With kindest regards,

Jean Sasson

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group)
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0553813773
• ISBN 13: 9780553813777
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256