In addition to the starred review in
Kirkus,
In the Land of Invisible Women by Qanta Ahmed, M.D., has received amazing advanced reviews in three of the top pre-publication review mags:
BookList, ForeWord, and
Publishers Weekly!!
BOOKLIST
Issue: July 1, 2008
Denied visa renewal in America, British-born Pakistani physician Ahmed, 31, leaves New York for a job in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she celebrates her Muslim faith on an exciting Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca even as she encounters rabid oppression from the state-sanctioned religious extremist police. She is licensed to operate ICU machines in the emergency ward, but as a woman, she is forbidden to drive, and she must veil every inch of herself. Her witty insider-outsider commentary as a Muslim and feminist, both reverent and highly critical, provides rare insight into the upper-class Saudi scene today, including the roles of women and men in romance, weddings, parenting, divorce, work, and friendship. After 9/11, she is shocked at the widespread anti-Americanism. The details of consumerism, complete with Western brand names.... are central to this honest memoir about connections and conflicts, and especially the clamorous clash of "modern and medieval, . . . Cadillac and camel. Hazel Rochman
FOREWORD MAGAZINE
ISSUE: July 1, 2008
Whether or not a reader is familiar with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Qanta Ahmed's debut memoir is a mesmerizing read. It's also the perfect primer for those who want to know what life is really like for women in a rigidly orthodox Muslim country. A British citizen of Pakistani origin, Ahmed completed her medical training in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, and critical care in New York City. At the completion of a fellowship in sleep disorders, she found that her visa application to stay in the United States had been denied. Without much thought or familiarity with the Kingdom, Ahmed accepted a job offer to work at the King Fahad National Guard Hospital in Riyadh.
Although she had been raised Muslim, Ahmed had very little knowledge of the religion. Through her writing, readers gain an education as well. Further, Ahmed's firsthand experiences in a Muslim country elucidate facets of its culture, from an explanation of blood money to the practices of polygamy. One of the most moving sections of the book covers Ahmed's Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest site for Muslims. It's on this journey, ripe with adventures and side turns, that Ahmed discovers the importance of religion to her, and embraces all the positivism of Islam.
Yet, throughout, Ahmed encounters various dichotomies, especially because she is a Westernized Muslim woman. Right away, her experience wearing an abbayah-a robe that covers from head to toe except for the eyes, which all women in the Kingdom must wear when they go out in public, no matter their nationality or beliefs-was paradoxically restrictive and freeing: "As I fastened the abbayah in front of a mirror inside the makeshift dressing room, I watched my eradication. Soon I was completely submerged in black. No trace of my figure remained. My androgyny was complete." She described it as a "strangely inviting prison" and "in some respects the abbayah was a powerful tool of women's liberation from the clerical male misogyny." Only through the abbayah's protective layer can a woman get anything done.
There are other examples of the way Saudi women "benefit," from their female status. In marriage, women receive a mahr from their new husbands, which is a substantial fortune. And if they divorce, the woman gets to keep all of her mahr. Divorce is also easily obtained; if a man wants to take on a second wife (in Saudi Arabia, he can have up to four), this alone is grounds enough for divorce. Yet, in a divorce, men are awarded custody of children over the age of seven or nine, a fact that runs counter to a Westerner's way of thinking.
Polygamy is another intriguing topic discussed here-one of Ahmed's colleagues divorced her husband for wanting to take on a second wife, then confessed that she herself would like to become a second wife: "I am going to marry a man who is already married. I don't want to marry a naïve bachelor. I want to marry a man whose primary needs are already met." Ahmed, the Westerner, found this logic puzzling, and rather sad.
To a degree, the divorcée's story is an indicator of a Saudi view Ahmed encountered in a more global realm-that of anti-Semitism. Ahmed was in Riyadh during 9/11, and these chapters are some of the most moving, disturbing, and insightful of the book. Ahmed was saddened and distressed-she is, after all, extremely attached to New York and America-and taken aback by her colleagues' excitement in reaction to the attacks. Female Saudi obstetricians in her hospital bought cake for their staff to celebrate. Her friends talked about how America "deserved" this tragedy because of its support of Israel. It's a turning point for Ahmed, as she uncovers the complexity of allegiances. It's also an affecting illustration of how unaware some Westerners-Ahmed included-were of the antipathy much of the Middle East harbors for the West. It points to ironies and paradoxes on so many levels; many of her Saudi colleagues had their medical training in the States with Jewish mentors, and benefit from oil money-yet they flatly "hate the Jews." While such attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors disappointed and isolated Ahmed, they fit neatly into her growing understanding of the Kingdom.
Ahmed's portrayal of Saudi Arabia during her two years there is one of both fondness and frustration, and a fascinating one at that. (September)
Publishers Weekly (scroll down to the bottom for review on PW's site)
Issue: June 2, 2008
This memoir is a journey into a complex world readers will find fascinating and at times repugnant. After being denied a visa to remain in the U.S., British-born Ahmed, a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin, takes advantage of an opportunity, before 9/11, to practice medicine in Saudi Arabia. She discovers her new environment is defined by schizophrenic contrasts that create an "absurd clamorous clash of modern and medieval.... It never became less arresting to behold." Ahmed's introduction to her new environment is shocking. Her first patient is an elderly Bedouin woman. Though naked on the operating table, she still is required by custom to have her face concealed with a veil under which numerous hoses snake their way to hissing machines. Everyday life is laced with bizarre situations created by the rabid puritanical orthodoxy that among other requirements forbids women to wear seat belts because it results in their breasts being more defined, and oppresses Saudi men as much as women by its archaic rules. At times the narrative is burdened with Ahmed's descriptions of the physical characteristics of individuals and the luxurious adornments of their homes but this minor flaw is easily overlooked in exchange for the intimate introduction to a world most readers will never know. (Sept.)
The Wild Sight
When a deadly storm crashed ashore in the early days of the American Revolution, some saw it as a natural disaster; others swore it was the work of God, meant to affirm the colonists in their struggle for liberty. Author Tony Williams examined primary sources to present the little-known story of this less-than-perfect storm in his first book, 