Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

Princess by Jean Sasson is a wondrous book about life for women in the Middle East. Princess is told by a real Middle Eastern princess from Saudi Arabia. Despite the fact she could get in trouble with her country for telling facts about her life, she still allows Jean Sasson to tell her story.In Princess, Sultana is the main character in the story. She is the youngest in her family and has one brother and nine sisters. Sultana is rebellious even from a young age. Sultana constantly voices her opinion when she isn’t supposed to. She recounts numerous stories from how her sister was married to an older gentleman more than twice her age one of her rebellious acts of flushing her brother’s headdress down the toilet and causing him to break his toe.Among the laughs of some of her stories are a few darker ones. She catches her brother and his friend committing a terrible act against a child while on vacation. The worst part is the girl’s mother knew about the act and allowed it because they were poor. Sultana feels bad that she has more than enough money, but events like the one she witness happen all the time because other families don’t have enough money. Sultana also experiences a tragic death and loses some close friends along the way.By the time she is an adult she is still the same rebellious women but with a husband and kids. Sultana experiences even more ups and downs in her adulthood. Sultana is forced to make many hard decisions in her marriage.This story really illustrates how life in Middle Eastern countries is. Princess really is the queen of all Middle Eastern tales. It shows the poverty that some people go through and the horrendous acts they have to do to earn enough money to get by. It also shows how women are treated more as a nuisance and a servant than an equal. Women are seen as pretty individuals who must have children and not speak unless spoken to. Their opinion does not matter. This book points out all the problems in the Middle Eastern society. It raises awareness on issues that many people do not pay attention to. The best thing about this book is that it is from a real person’s point of view someone who has seen this first hand and wants to help improve it.I recommend this book be read by everyone. Even if you are not a feminist, these issues will touch your heart. This book should also be read by the Middle Eastern community so they can see what it's like to be a women in that society and hopefully see the error in some of their ways. This book would be especially good in a social studies class that wants to learn about Middle Eastern life. It also has many historical details in it. It would teach a lot to a feminism class or club.I give this book five out of five stars because this book truly shows what women in the Middle East have to go through every day. Women do not get to speak out what they believe and come second to men in every situation. They are seen as people who give birth, clean and fix meals. They aren't treated as an equal and many women don’t have the courage to fight back for rights. This book shows we should stand up for women in the Middle East. Be sure to read the next two books in the trilogy. They are titled: Princess Sultana’s Daughters and Princess Sultana’s Circle. If you want to help out with the women of the Middle East or find out more information about them visit this website:https://www.mnnonline.org/news/women-helping-women-middle-east-north-africa/

This book tells of such appalling acts against women, that it is nearly incomprehensible in the naïve eyes of an American woman. It is very well-written, and Jean Sasson lends a strong voice to women who have no voice at all, while strengthening their plight against horrific injustices. I would certainly recommend this book as a window into a world so immeasurably different than ours.However, being the fastidious reader that I am, I will admit that it was difficult for me to discern fact from fiction in this story. We are told that this is a true story, and that names have been changed to protect the identity of Princess Sultana and her family; however, with so many identifying familial situations, I can only imagine that the Princess would be hard-pressed to keep her identity hidden. I do not doubt the validity of much of what is described here in everyday Saudi Arabian life, but some of her personal events seemed almost improbable. The escape with her children, for example, seemed so unlikely with all the restrictions placed on these women; I got the sense that perhaps it was at least somewhat embellished. There were inconsistencies in her behavior that made me question the validity of what I read, and later led me to read the various articles about the debate over its authenticity.Despite my hesitation in that respect, I will reiterate that this truly is an important read. The novel made me acutely aware that we, as Westerners, are abundantly blessed with freedoms that many women around the world will never experience. And for that reason, I applaud Ms. Sasson in her attempts to bring light to this wretched oppression.

This is a MUST read - enlightening, enjoyable and well-written.This book was chosen for me through one of the members of my book club...Normally, I wouldn't have chosen this book - with so many GREAT books out there, and so little time to read, I feel I have to choose wisely... Thankfully, someone chose wisely for me because "Princess" was fantastic!I calculated that in real time, Sultana is about 13 years older than me - therefore, many of the recurring themes - especially those of the extreme oppression of women in Saudi Arabia - almost seemed unreal to me. I had to keep reminding myself that while we live one way here in America, while practicing Christianity, at the same time, they lived quite the opposite, in Saudi Arabia, as Muslims.I wish I had the knowledge presented to me in this book back in the early '90's. I was in college then and would spend some of my evenings and/or weekends helping an Arabic family here in our community. I would watch her 3 boys on occasion and stay in her home when she and her husband would travel to London or Jordan. Speaking with the wife on many occasions and hearing conversations between her and her husband, I had many unanswered/open questions that lingered in my thoughts for years. It was like reading Sultana's story brought closure to those thoughts and educated me enough to fill in those long-ago blanks that filled my mind.Sultana's feisty, powerful yet loving demeanor made for the perfect narrator. The light she shed and depicted as Kareem, allowed me to see him as a loving man, husband and father - a man wanting to be more than he saw in his past generations of men before him, even though he too faltered along the way, caving to the mis-interpretations of the Koran and resorting back to the failing attitudes of his past leaders.My favorite quote is definitely toward the end of the book - "A great imbalance is created in the world when women are treated as liabilities, as they are in many counties"... and also, "Our goal remains that all women of the world might live in dignity and in peace."... As an educated and passionate mother of two teenage girls, these two are my wishes.Thank you Princess Sultana and Jean Sasson for this deep, eye-opening, lovely and exciting story. I can't wait to pass it on to my teens.