Product Description

In a land where Kings still rule, I am a Princess. You must know me only as Sultana, for I cannot reveal my true name for fear that harm will come to me and my family for what I am about to tell you. Think of a Saudi Arabian princess and what do you see? A woman glittering with jewels, living a life of unbelievable luxury. She has gold, palaces, swimming-pools, servants, designer dresses galore. But in reality she lives in a gilded cage. She has no freedom, no vote, no control over her own life, no value but as a bearer of sons. Hidden behind the vell, she is a prisoner, her jailers her father, her husband, her sons. 'Sultana' is a member of the Saudi royal family, closely related to the King. For the sake of her daughters, she decided that it was time for a woman in her position to speak out about the reality of life for women in her country, whatever their rank. She tells of her own life, from her turbulent childhood to her arranged marriage - a happy one, until her husband decided to take a second wife - and of the lives of her sisters, her friends and her servants. In contrast to the affection and easy camaraderie amongst the women, she relates a history of appalling oppression against them, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations: forced marriages, servants bullied into sex slavery, summary executions. Princess is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and great courage. By speaking out, 'Sultana' risked bringing the wrath of the Saudi establishment upon her head and upon the heads of her children. For this reason, she told her story anonymously.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16789 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 329 pages

Review
" 'It had to come from a native woman to be believable' - Betty Mahmoody, bestselling author of Not Without My Daughter 'Startling, frank and vivid' - Sunday Express 'Gripping...fast-paced, enthralling' - Publishers Weekly 'Princess is a mind-boggling look at the everyday life of a contemporary woman in the 21,000-member-strong royal family...absolutely riveting' - People magazine"

From the Author
Response to my readers
After growing up in a tiny Southern town, I feel like the luckiest person alive to have traveled the world, and met lovely people from so many countries. The Middle East & Asia have been my main areas of travel, and like the rest of this good earth, including my own USA, I found negatives and positives in every culture. But, I also made the happy discovery that most people are genuinely kind hearted and most of us want the same out of life: comfort of life and respectful treatment from fellow human beings. (Speaking of lovely folks: To those that might be interested, I traveled to Iraq last summer, and spent two weeks in that country. Believe it or not, never have I met any nicer peole than the ordinary Iraqi. I was forced to rethink my former conclusions! What an adventure I had--particularly after writing "The Rape of Kuwait!" But, that's another book and I'm getting ahead of myself. Sorry!)

Certainly, during my twelve years of living and working in Saudi Arabia, I was fortunate to meet many lovely Saudi citizens, and yes, many kind men who treated their own women with respect. However, despite this, none of those privileged women could drive an automobile, work in the company of men, attend the same schools as men, or travel outside their home without the veil over their face. Such is not a life anyone would purposely seek, no matter what anyone might claim.

As a western woman, I was treated very differently than native women. I can only recall one or two unpleasant episodes during that time, and believe me, only two bad incidents in twelve years is nothing to complain about! So, please remember, the books about "Sultana" are not my own personal story, and I could not infringe on the truths of a native woman with my own positive experiences. (I am in the process of writing about my experiences in the Middle East, and it will surprise many people.)

And to those who find it so difficult to believe that women are still horribly mistreated in many parts of the world, don't take my word for it! Why don't you read other findings in newspapers, magazines, and join the human rights groups, Amnesty International and Equality Now? Their findings are much in the same vein as the stories you will read about in my books, and surely no one can claim these orgainziations are biased! (And, there are other well-written books about women which share many common findings with my own work, and I highly recommend that readers buy and read those books: Price of Honor and Nine Parts of Desire, come to mind.) And, what is happening with the Taliban and their women, even as I am writing this sentence, shows us that life can be much worse for many of the world's women than any of us could ever imagine in our worse nightmare!

I just returned from a book tour in England and at one of my book signings, I was happy to see four or five Saudi female faces in the audience. While speaking, I inquired if they were Saudi, and everyone one of them said, "no." However, when my talk finished, and readers filed by to get signed books, three of the women whispered to me that they were indeed Saudi, and although they could never come out publicly, they were so pleased that the world was taking note of their situation. Two of the women passed me their phone numbers and I was sad to hear from the two women that the public situation for women in Saudi Arabia had become much more severe, with the government growing more fearful of Saudi radical religious groups, and unwilling to hold these fierce men in line, although the individual lives lived in private have become more relaxed since many educated Saudi men have become more enlightened about women's issues.

And, thanks to you all for caring. (At least to those who care! And, if you don't care, maybe you should care!) There have been a few voiced complaints about the way I told Sultana's story--in a quick, enjoyable read--but who of you wants to read a dry account of anyone's life? And, if you happen to notice, a lot of facts are hidden in the fun... Anyway, the story of women fighting for personal freedoms is what is important. Certainly, when I first wrote "Princess," Sultana nor I could have ever dreamed that her story would travel around the world, and find so many interested readers.

And, yes to the question I am asked most frequently: I have been harassed, lied about, and attacked in various ways for daring to write Sultana's story. But, I don't have a single regret.

So now, I'm off to begin another project. Until then, happiness to you all. Jean Sasson

From the Back Cover
Think of Saudi Arabia and what do you see? Terrorists spreading fear? Religious zealots? A corrupt government and a fabulously wealthy Royal family living lives of unbelievable luxury?

Jean Sasson captures the flavour and reality of life in a country full of extremes and contradictions. Princess ‘Sultana', a real Saudi princess closely related to the King, lives those contradictions, with priceless jewels, many servants, unlimited funds at her disposal, but no freedom. A prisoner in a gilded cage with no vote, no control, no value but as a mother of sons, she is totally at the mercy of the men in her life…her father, her brother, her husband.

For the first time, a royal Saudi woman opens the door to give readers an unvarnished look inside a closed society. ‘Sultana' lifts the veil on the shocking world of forced marriages, sex slavery, honour killings and other outrages against women, both royal and common.

Princess is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and great courage. By speaking out, ‘Sultana' risks the wrath of the Saudi establishment and for this reason, she has told her story anonymously through the bestselling author Jean Sasson. This is a real-life story you will never forget.

Customer Reviews

Excellent
Wether is true or a fiction it is still extremely intresting from the begining to the end. It was hard to put down and i managed to read it within 3 days. Its was interesting and gripping alltogether.

This book had the true Arab feel to it. It makes you want to learn or know more about the Saudia culture and the royal family. Some issues in the book were quite difficult to take in or except e.g. the princess drinking and so close to becoming an alcoholic. This is not accepted and to think the Saudi's of all people can fall to that degree-this is what money can bring you. money does not bring happiness and this is what the princess showed. She was missing something and you can't help but like her character-because she spoke out and discussed her life with everyone, even if the Saudi royal family didn't like it.

To learn the fate of some of the grils was distressing. Also to learn that girls got married to men old enough to be thier father-this is not accepted in the western muslim world. Their muslim cultures do vary from the western muslim culture and the asian muslim culture. This shows their own status, tradition are mixed with religion and changes do occur within each country and muslim area.

Real unbroken spirit
I only read this book as it kept appearing on my Recommendations list. I had a vague idea on how woman were seen in Saudi Arabia but, how little I knew.

Princess Sultana tells the story of her life - her luxurious prison sentence, just because she is a woman in a land where this means second class citizen. No rights, no choice, she is constantly told what will happen to her and her sisters.

She is a Princess yet no one, not even her father, thinks she is anything special - because she is a daughter and only sons are truly wanted. Her voice is defiant and strong, even in the face of danger. She refuses to accept her lot in life - to serve and obey - all the time knowing she could easily be murdered for being a 'difficult' woman. She risks death again and again to do what she thinks is right, to gain a little freedom and choice over her life. Her spirit is amazing - she has hope in the darkest times. It's astounding that this story is real and that she risked so much over and over - knowing that she too could be murdered like her friends and the police would help cover it up.

Some of her stories are truly sickening, I cannot see how she kept going, knowing she had no help in society - no police force, little parental support, should anything happen to her. Women are taught to get on with life no matter what. Men are always right and can do anything, ANYTHING they want.

The only glimmers of humour and lightness are her accounts on the triumphs over her vile brother Ali. I was delighted when she got away with some of them, though tiny moments of satisfaction and joy can never compensate her largely grim existence.

I wouldn't say this book was enjoyable or pleasant. It's shocking, heart wrenching and disgustingly real. By the end of the book I felt depressingly resigned to the fact that I couldn't do anything to help and Sultanas' story was just one of thousands. It is, however, essential to learn about how different life is in other parts of the world. As a Western woman I feel immensely grateful and humbled by Sultanas story. I hope she is happy wherever she is.

A heartrending insight of Saudi Women
I really did not have a clue what i was going to read, but once I started reading this book of life behind the veil of Saudi women, I could not put it down. It is heart wrenching in parts; Has a touch of humour, despite the suffering; It is very defiant and is certainly eye opening in a way that we western women could not even imagine, the suffering and iniquities against these women of Saudi Arabia. I fully recommend the follow up book, Daughters of Arabia by Jean P Sasoon. Once you begin reading these books, you will not want to put them down or ever forget their contents.