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.

The princess is a truly amazing novel and here is why. Delving into the deep portions of Sultana's mindset, the setting and surroundings are clearly placed and fluently configured between the readers eyes. Jean Sasson does an extraordinary job in incorporating emotions with reality,that produces a surrounding aura of truth and bias around sultana's outlook. From the beginning of the novel, there is an incorporated mystery surrounding the protagonist. Jean Sasson illustrates a very infringing environment that slowly leaks out details and escalates the awareness of the reader. The portrayal of every situation is akin to the novels theme of intrusion and enslavement. After the slow disclosure of every single character , Sultana divulges into a cinematic memoir of previous encounters, experiences, and emotions that are conceived to shape our perception of that character throughout the novel. The long descriptions describing the arrangement of emotions certain characters depict come with the subtle outburst of Sultana's sentiment towards the characters. These implications advance the readers devotion to the story and characters ever so often that before you know it, the book has now consumed all sympathy for men. Oh yes, men are all over this book and the duration of their stay is extraordinary. From the depths of her emotions to the reality of her villa, Sultana's utter hatred for the societal norms that men put in place for women is the same wherever you look. The conformity's set by men restrict all boundaries for women, and place a great deal of their lives on chains. The perspective that Sultana provides allows for the insight of a limited life restricted by the opposite sex in a social conundrum that is Saudi Arabia. Sultana gathers throughout the novel a general consensus of the women around her about their opinions and views about what could and should be changed for women, and concurrently discuss their ideas among themselves. Their secrecy of discussion infers the reality of the complete disdain from their gender counter parts about discussing the importance of women's rights. In every situation brought up to a male about any rights are shot down and warn the women about the repercussions that are to come if they do challenge those who rule them. The casual means of women carrying out their husbands and men's needs is exactly what this book informs everyone outside the boundaries to learn about. The Subtle and immediate obedience of the women to their masters uniformly is the unique yet depressing aspect that Jean Sasson surprisingly captures very well. The book unsatisfyingly ends without any solution to the problem. The disappointing and true reality of the book really kicks in as you soon realize that this problem is never solved, there has been no solution. The oppression of women in Saudi Arabia continues and deficient social structure is still in place, and this is the best aspect of the book that Jean Sasson captured. Nothing has changed