This Princess has wealth, but little else. (Princess - Jean P. Sasson)

Member Name: Traceyt

Product:	Princess - Jean P. Sasson
Date:	23/06/02 (483 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Read, Not a heavy read, Eye opening

Disadvantages: Can be shocking

Although this is one of the best books that I have ever read I also found it very sad and at times shocking. It is a true, biographical, story of a Saudi Arabian Princess and, even with all her wealth she is still a prisoner of the Saudi Arabian way of life. I was aware that the women in Arabia have little say in the important aspects of lives but this really opened my eyes as to how much they are downtrodden by the male population of Saudi Arabia, even for a princess surrounded my so much wealth it is hard to comprehend.

Her mother was married to her father in an arranged marriage when her father was 20 and her mother was 13. By the time her mother was 23 she had borne 11 children. The book starts with the princess at an early age and documents her life through to her late thirties.

It amazed me that when a female child is born in Saudi Arabia their birth goes unregistered, as does their death, therefore there are no records of the exhistance of many women. So, when a female does "wrong" it is up to her family to decide on a punishment, which may easily result in death. This book is full of this type of information, so not only is it a life story, it gives you an insight into another culture and religion.

I don't want to go into too much detail or I may spoil the story for you but suffice it to say many Western readers will, no doubt, find this account interesting, shocking and very sad. It made me, a woman of the West, realise just how lucky I am to live in a democracy.

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