Worlds apart (In the Land of Invisible Women - Qanta Ahmed)

Member Name: niknakb

Product:	In the Land of Invisible Women - Qanta Ahmed
Date:	15/05/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: excellent read

Disadvantages: can drag in places

I have just read this brilliant book by Quanta Ahmed. Quanta is a British woman of Pakistani origin living an working as a Doctor in America. She has the opportunity to take a job in Saudi Arabia and takes it.

The book is a true account of her time there. A muslim herself, she never really connects with her faith until she moves to Suadi and she has never experienced a muslim society until now. The story is her account of how she finds the oppression of women in Suadi while working as a rare woman Doctor in a hospital there. It is so interesting to hear her stories of how women are treated by men and other women and how all citizens are treated by the Wahabi.

She also goes into detail about how despite all this oppression, she was able to rekindle her Muslim faith. It is a fantastic story of how she lived in a world that is so far removed from the West and how she found it unbearable at times but also safe and reasuring.

I love reading about different cultures and this is a really good book. I was originally put off by the size as it is a long book but once I started to read it, I was glad it was long becasue it was so interesting. Some bits did drag on a bit but all in all it is an excellent book.

Summary: Fantastic account of another world!