In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor’s Journey
to the Heart of the Saudi Kingdom, Qanta Ahmed (2.5)
While this book had many interesting elements, I did not
find it to be well written or edited. The tone of the book changed so much,
that one suspects there were multiple editors. It is the autobiography of a
Muslim woman who grows up and is trained as a doctor in the west. As her visa
to live in the US expires, she leaves New York City to work at a hospital in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Her viewpoint is interesting as, while not devout, she is
familiar with the basics of her religion though continues to be surprised by
how the tenets of Islam are enacted in everyday life in Saudi Arabia. Much of
what she must wear, can or cannot do without a familial male, and rules of
behavior, are dictated by laws theoretically derived from her religion. As with
all religions, the key is in the interpretation, and I found it odd that she
did not question the Saudi interpretation at the time more rigorously. She
spent much more time on the looks and clothes of those typically hidden. Maybe
it is normal to be obsessed with looks when you are in a situation where most are
covered, but it was rather off-putting to read. I did find her passages on her
Hajj and her experiences as the attacks of 9/11 were occurring very moving and
interesting.
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