Princess - Jean Sasson

...(Linda) on the book called Princess by Jean Sasson. I was so intrigued by Linda’s review that I immediately ordered the book through Amazon.co.uk. It duly arrived and I started to read it that same evening.

I was intrigued yet horrified by the reading of this book. I simply could not put it down. I had to keep reading and reading.

First of all, Jean P Sasson is an American who has lived quite a few years in Saudi Arabia ...
...anything to happen to the princess who would be in great danger should her true identity become known. But she read the diaries and felt that she had to tell the story of the life of a Royal Saudi Arabian princess. The diaries told of the heartache, happiness and fear of life behind the veil. The author does state that the words of the book are her own but the story is that of the life of the princess.

To try and protect the identity ... more

I guess the majority of women wonder what it is like for the women behind the veils. You know what it is like, walking down the street and then suddenly you see half a dozen females walking towards you and sometimes looking pretty scary as they are dressed from top to toe in dark, heavy clothing with veils covering their faces.

Often I have thought that they must be pretty stupid to let men and religion dictate to them in such a fashion. After all, it must be pretty unbearable to wear this clothing especially on hot summer days and I have always thought that their pretty faces are locked away behind the veils.

Throughout my years I have heard bits and pieces about these veiled women but didn’t really give them much more thought until I read a review by Teacherofhooch (Linda) on the book called Princess by Jean Sasson. I was so intrigued by Linda’s review that I immediately ordered the book through Amazon.co.uk. It duly arrived and I started to read it that same evening.

I was intrigued yet horrified by the reading of this book. I simply could not put it down. I had to keep reading and reading.

First of all, Jean P Sasson is an American who has lived quite a few years in Saudi Arabia and therefore knew the people and the culture very well. She became very friendly with one of the Saudi princesses who asked her to write a book about her life. At first Jean said she couldn’t; she loved living in Saudi and she didn’t want anything to happen to the princess who would be in great danger should her true identity become known. But she read the diaries and felt that she had to tell the story of the life of a Royal Saudi Arabian princess. The diaries told of the heartache, happiness and fear of life behind the veil. The author does state that the words of the book are her own but the story is that of the life of the princess.

To try and protect the identity of this very brave princess, Sasson has named her Sultana which is the Arabic name for a princess – Sultana being the wife or consort of the Sultan.

Sultana is a Saudi princess belonging to the House of Al Sa’ud, rulers of Saudi Arabia and is one of a family of 10 daughters and one son, although her mother did have more children who died. Throughout the book you will find that women are mainly thought of as breeding machines and that sons should be produced. A man can have up to 4 wives and each of these wives (together with their families) are kept in separate palaces and the man visits each wife in turn. The daughters of such unions, whether they are royal or not, are quite inconsequential and are treat as inferior human beings. The son is god in this land.

Although Sultana lives in luxurious palaces and has never had to worry about where her food came from, she was still downtrodden and she came to resent and hate her brother Ali who could do no wrong in the eyes of their father. Sultana yearned for her father to notice her but he usually ignored her. She became a silent rebel. She hated the way girls and women were treat in her land and wanted freedom for all women but she knew she could not do this task alone but, in her way, she has tried and tried throughout her life for reformation for women.

In Saudi Arabia, man is king and owns all his female relatives; his word is law and no female dare contradict him. When a girl reaches ‘menses’ – periods to you and me – then her father has to be told straightaway and she has to become veiled and he usually arranges a marriage for her. Sultana tells of such young girls being forced to marry old men and literally be their sex slaves. She tells of her sister Sara’s nightmare marriage to such a man and how Sara tries to commit suicide which brings shame onto the family. Sara is lucky because her husband divorces her and her father takes her back into the family. Should her father have disowned her then she would have nowhere to go and no means of supporting herself.

Sultana relates how lucky she was not to have been circumcised and recounts the stories told to her by her older sisters. I cried when I read this part, this practice is just so inhumane and vile and not necessary.

Sultana’s father arranges a marriage for his rebel daughter and she knew there wasn’t anything she could do about this. It was heartbreaking reading of Sultana’s loss of a breast through cancer especially as she thought she had the love of her husband to guide her through her darkest days. Sultana was shocked and hurt by her husband’s statement to have a second wife and did something that could have quite easily cost her her life but I have really got to admire her for her actions. I will not go into detail because I don’t want to spoil the “read” for anyone.

This book really does show the grit and determination of one sole female from an early age to her present day. She has continually fought a kind of silent fight for her gender who have been so downtrodden. She wanted the world to know of the harsh ruling of men against women, about the totally unjust and sometimes fatal treatment given to women for a very slight misdemeanour. She wants to world to know that slowly Arabian women are starting to be educated although there are a limited number of professions that they are allowed to practice. She wants the world to know that this can happen to a Royal princess as well as a lowly Bedouin woman.

Although her family are very rich and have all the trappings that this wealth brings; expensive jewellery, first class travel, multitudes of servants, the reader can see the invisible chains that surround the Saudi women.

The book is very easy to read and as I read it I could imagine myself in the palace and seeing the various things Sultana describes. It was a kind of “reality” book – I felt transported to Saudi Arabia! Thank goodness it was just a feeling!

As I read this book I had various emotions.

Anger – how could these women let themselves be treated in this way? I wouldn’t. But, as I read more and more, I started to understand how hard it is for people like Sultana to get the men to think of women as something other than a chattel and without intelligence. By keeping education from women, the men have the upper hand but I am sure that in these modern times, the grasp WILL eventually slip from the these men and their women, hopefully, will be free of these invisible chains that surround them.

Sympathy for the thousands of ‘battery’ women producing child after child after child. I was really horrified that women could be thought of as mere child producers and my heart totally went to the young girls married off to the dirty old men who used them sexually in sadistic ways. Children as young as 11 and 12. Yes, they might have periods but they are still children but in the Muslim eyes they are women once they have their ‘menses”.

Admiration was another emotion I felt. Total admiration for Sultana for being so brave to give her diaries to the author so that the world could be told of life behind the veil. I would love to meet Sultana – such a courageous and spirited woman who has remained in constant battle for her fellow females.

Fascination at the way of life “behind the veil” and “behind palace walls”. Intriguing to say the least but quite humorous in parts.

Despair at the fate of some young females at the hands of their fathers and uncles.

Hatred for those fathers and uncles who could pass out such wicked sentences for such small misdemeanours.

The book made me feel thankful that I was born “free”, without those invisible chains surrounding Sultana and her people and made me realise that I shouldn’t pass judgement on other women without knowing their circumstances.

I was shocked by some of the stories related and just hope that Sultana’s account of her life has accomplished what she hoped it would achieve. Somehow, I don’t think it will have. We in the Western world have read her book but will her fellow females in Saudi Arabia have read it? Will the menfolk have read her book? I somehow don’t think so. I would imagine that this book would have been banned in Saudi Arabia and the men would certainly not want to read a book by a Saudi princess. It would be an insult to their intelligence! Such is their arrogance!

This book can be purchased from Amazon on www.amazon.co.uk and I recommend it to everyone. I think I paid £5.99 plus P&P.

There are two follow up books called Daughters of Arabia in which Sultana turns the spotlight on to her two daughters and the third book is called Desert Royal.

I will definitely be buying both of these books because I want to know how Sultana’s fight for freedom progresses.

I should just mention that the book does give lots of information regarding maps of Saudi Arabia, history of the country and a glossary of the terms used eg. abaaya – long black cloak worn over clothing.
 

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