Friday, November 07, 2008

In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom by Qanta A. Ahmed

In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom by Qanta A. Ahmed is the memoirs of Ahmed's 2 year long job at a Saudi Arabian hospital in Riyadh. Reading the back cover material as well as the PR sheet I was expecting an exposé [pun intended] on Saudi Arabian society particularly women's issues. Both the beginning and end of the book certainly do have that flavor. Ahmed apparently was not expecting the restrictions that females have to live under. The covering being the most obvious. The last section deals with the Saudi reaction to September 11. She finds out much to her horror that many of the people she respected were anti-Semites. The middle section is a rather touching description of her trip to Mecca to participate in the Hajj.

I was interested by the simple logistics of day-to-day life for women in the Saudi kingdom. How they impacted her job as a physician. There's some material on the women's movement and the support they receive from like-minded moderate men. An excellent book on an intriguing subject.

Recommended!

Note: this book was provided for review purposes by a PR outfit.

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