Book Description
PRINCES: A TRUE STORY OF LIFE BEHIND THE VEIL IN SAUDI ARABIA describes the life of Princess Sultana Al Sa'ud, a princess in the royal house of Saudi Arabia. Hidden behind her black veil, she is a prisoner, jailed by her father, her husband, and her country.
Sultana tells of appalling oppressions, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations: thirteen-year-old girls forced to marry men five times their age, young women killed by drowning, stoning, or isolation in the "women's room."
PRINCESS is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and courage, and you will never forget her or her Muslim sisters.
Customer Reviews:
in the sad by true catagory .......2007-09-29
I read this book more than 10 years ago and it still haunts me to this day. "Princess" is the most frightening book I have ever read because it is a true story!
In 1992 when this book was first published it became an instant sensation all over the world. This is the first book written about Saudi Arabia that really gives an honest portrayal of what life is really like for the women living in this historically oppressive country. The Saudi government even banned "Princess" because this book candidly "lifts the veil" on the culture surrounding women in their Kingdom.
Ms. Jean Sasson tells the first-hand story of Princess Sultana, a Royal living in the extremely discouraging Saudi Arabia. I have read all of Ms. Sasson's books, but "Princess" is my favorite. I am certain that anyone with a modicum of decency will be outraged and shocked after reading this book.
The book is written in first-person which makes for a very interesting read. Also included in the book is lots of extra info about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, maps, a glossary and even some pictures. This book was both enthralling and educational because Jean Sasson is a rare writer that has a very gifted talent.
In 1948 the United Nations General Assembly came up with a list of human rights which is supposed to be guaranteed for every single human being; all over the world. This very basic list is called the "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights," and countries such as Saudi Arabia have consistently chosen to ignore these basic human rights.
Why is the Middle East and especially Islamic States such as Saudi Arabia so oppressive towards women? I have asked myself this question ever since I first read Princess Sultana's story. I wish the US would do more, but they are already viewed as a "bully" in this region of the world. Maybe the US cares more about oil than about the millions of women that are living in a modern-day Holocaust?
Jean Sasson wrote two other books about Princess Sultana and her family, Princess Sultana's Daughters and Princess Sultana's Circle (Princess Trilogy); both of which are beyond gripping. I really hope there will be more books updating readers about the Princess and about the plight of women's equality in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I'd also love to read a book discussing homosexuality within the Middle East/Islamic States, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Gay men (and women) are virtually unheard of and are often murdered or imprisoned simply for being homosexual or lesbian. When the Iranian President recently told Columbia University that there are "no homosexuals in Iran" I had to laugh at his blatant homophobia, hatred, and disregard to human life. What a sick and bigoted statement to make. I also recommend picking up Ms. Sasson's latest book, Love in a Torn Land: Joanna of Kurdistan: The True Story of a Freedom Fighter's Escape from Iraqi Vengeance. This is an excellent tome, as well.
To refer to Saudi Arabia simply as "sexist," is, in my humble opinion a kind word for this dictatorship. Because, at least the word "sexist" has some meaning behind it. But as I learned in "Princess," women have no meaning because they are regarded as property. I really commend Ms. Sasson for having the courage to tell the this very disconsolate story. There isn't even a word for "sexist" in the Arabic language. Without say a word, that manages to say it all!
Excellent Personal Account of Life in Saudi Arabia.......2007-08-31
While reading this book, I was impressed with the writing style and verbage that the author used. It was an interesting look at the inside of The Kingdom that many people know little about. This book was tragically sad in many parts but hilariously funny in others. I am admiring of the Sultana and her strength in personality and character; especially when standing up to her brother and husband. She seems to be truly a good person and is someone I wish I could meet in person. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the position of women in Saudi Arabia.
"Life Behind the Veil" or "Why Being a Girl in Saudi Arabia Really, Really Sucks".......2007-08-17
I'm an educated person, and I am very much aware of the basic freedoms that women in Saudi Arabia are lacking. However, reading "Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia" sheds a whole new light on the horrific realities of life for women in this god-forsaken country.
This book is the real story of Princess Sultana, a member of Saudi Arabia's royal family. The name Sultana is an alias: If anyone in her family learned her true identity, she and her children would face deadly consequences. Instead, Sultana tells her story with the help of author Jean Sasson, a writer who befriended the princess while living and working in Saudi Arabia.
"Princess" details Sultana's upbringing in a home where the father had absolutely no regard for any of his daughters and instead catered only to the desires of his wretched son, Ali. Sultana was tormented by her older brother, and she was always determined to figure out a way to build a better life for herself and attain more rights than women are generally allowed in her country.
In Saudi Arabia, women are forced to wear black veils that cover their entire face. They can't drive cars, live independently, or make any decisions for themselves. Women are not valued as individuals, and in many cases Arabian men view women solely as their own sexual outlets. It's common for women and young girls to be raped by just about anyone. Women can even be stoned to death for their so-called "lewd" behavior, but of course men are never punished for their brutal crimes.
Sultana gives many examples of women she has known who met horrible fates, and she describes her own frustrations of being ruled by her father, brother, and eventually her husband. Because Sultana is a member of the royal family, she has a much better life than most women do in Saudi Arabia, and that's a terrifying thought. Sultana also has a strong, feisty spirit, but even her unflinching determination to change things has little effect on the events that unravel around her.
"Princess" is a wonderful book, but it's also extremely sad because it paints such a vivid picture of the horrors that Arabian women endure on a daily basis. It's almost impossible for me to fathom that a country in our modern world still adheres to these archaic practices, but it's true. Now that I've read this book, I'm anxious to learn more about the current state of affairs in Saudi Arabia: Have things improved even the slightest bit in the past 17 years? I'm almost afraid to find out.
Wow!.......2007-07-11
This book was eye-opening. I had the great fortune of reading it about a year ago, after buying it from a second-hand store. After completing it within two days (which is amazing for me), I felt compelled to tell other people about it. My cousin borrowed it, and she loved it, too (so much that I actually had to steal it back from her when I visited). You learn about the thought process of some of the women of Saudi Arabia, and how they can have a love-hate relationship with their placement in society. You become more aware of human rights violations and their effects. It's very interesting, and it makes you want to do something to help her.
A real life heroin who dares to lift the veil.......2007-06-15
This true story reads just like a novel. It's the story of Sultana, a fiery Princess for the ruling house of Al Sa'ud in Saudi Arabia. Throughout her personal experiences we learn a lot on the status of women in the country regardless of their social rank, and it shows how the culture that they cherish and accept to a certain degree is also one that they hate but have very little power over. This is fascinating and I highly recommend the trilogy to anyone who is interested in women in Saudi Arabia. I also recommend another book "Nine parts of desire" by Geraldine Brooks, which covers the same topic.
Book Description
In her international best sellers, PRINCESS and PRINCESS SULTANA'S DAUGHTERS, Jean Sasson vividly depicted the harsh restrictions endured by Saudi women. These books described the lives of women who live in a society where they have few rights, little control over their own lives or bodies, and have no choice but to endure the atrocities perpetrated against them.
Now, in response to readers' tremendous outpouring of interest and affection for Sultana, as well as her works on behalf of oppressed women, Jean Sasson and the Princess continue to expose the outrageous human rights abuses suffered by women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
When Sultana's niece is forced into an arranged marriage with a cruel, depraved older man, and a royal cousin in revealed as keeping a harem of sex slaves, Sultana's attempts at intervention in their various plights are thwarted. But when her nephews are caught committing an unspeakable act against a 12-year-old girl, Sultana is galvanized into action. Risking her personal status and wealth, she takes a stand against the complacency of her male relatives over the child' fate. Ultimately, Sultana and her siters vow to form a circle of support that will surround and shelter abused women and girls.
As with PRINCESS and PRINCESS SULTANA'S DAUGHTERS, the reader is compelled to read just one more page, one more chapter, once they begin reading PRINCESS SULTANA'S CIRCLE.
Customer Reviews:
Saudi Arabia.......2007-03-27
I highly recommend reading the Princess Trilogy. I had a hard time putting the book down. It's a really easy read.
History.......2006-11-02
My review is the same as I gave for the book "Princess" It is very good
Good Read.......2006-09-22
This book was not better then the first book in the series but definately beter then the 2nd one. I found the story boring at time as some issues that were already discussed in the fist book where discussed again in the 3rd book. Other then that it was a good continuation.
For Goodpasture.......2006-05-25
Goodpasture, I simply had to share with you that I happen to know that the princess supports over 700 needy families, from feeding them to educating their children to tending to their health care. In fact, in the book, if you finished reading it, tells how her son bought a business in Pakistan and set the young woman up as the owner, where she is prospering. Although she did stay in the princess' sister's home for a while, it was explained in the book that they were afraid to send her home, that her parents might resell her. Everything takes time. I know two princesses extremely well, one from Saudi Arabia and one from Kuwait, and both are extremely generous and help people all over the world. I'm sorry you had such a negative opinion of the princess, but like I said, I'm confused that you didn't read on to see that indeed she did change the young woman's life in a very wonderful manner. Just because the princess is extremely wealthy and does enjoy her personal wealth, she gives away a mind-boggling amount of money, and for good causes. I just thought you would like to know, as well as others, so you would not feel so disappointed and angry at the princess over an impression that is not reality. Also, many things are not told in the books as some things would give her identity away on the spot.
Excellent Trilogy, would love more..........2004-10-04
This is the third book in the Princess trilogy. I raced through the book in two days. Princess Sultana's Circle goes more into situations, which Sultana tries to fix such as freeing a harem of women or saving her niece from a forced marriage to a disgusting older man. Princess Sultana finally emerges victorious in her struggle to help out somebody. In this book they also go over the holy month of Ramadan, camping in the desert, and shopping in New York.
The author does such a great job of making everything in this book so real and colorful that you feel like you are there. I would recommend any of the Princess books. I would suggest that it is always fun to start reading from the beginning of the trilogy because you get a good feel for all the characters. Great book!
Book Description
Readers of Princess Sultana's extraordinary story, PRINCESS, were gripped by her powerful indictment of women's lives behind the veil within the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Now, Jean Sasson turns the spotlight on Sultana's two teenage daughters, Maha and Amani.
As second-generation members of the royal family who have benefited from Saudi oil wealth, Maha and Amani have never known the poverty which their grandparents experienced as children. Surrounded by untold opulence and luxury from the day they were born and which they take for granted, but stifled by the unbearably restrictive lifestyle imposed on them, they have reacted in equally desperate ways.
Their dramatic and shocking stories, together with many more which concern other members of Princess Sultana's huge family, are set against a rich backcloth of Saudi Arabian culture and social mores which are depicted with equal color and authenticity. We learn, for example, of the fascinating ritual of the world-famous annual pirlgrimage to Makkah as we accompany the princess and her family to this holiest of cities.
Throughout, however, Sultana never tires of her quest to expose the injustices which her society levels against women. In her couragewious campaign to improve the lot of her own daughters of Arabia, Princess Sultana once more strikes a chord amongst all women who are lucky enough to have the freedom to speak out for themselves.
Customer Reviews:
Princess Series.......2007-01-10
I have read all the books in this series and I would recommmend that they all should be read. I think that these books should be required reading for all high school students. They are an eye opener to the way that part of world thinks and their beliefs. The books are very well written and a fast read.
Good Read.......2006-11-07
Still a good continuation and interesting to learn about the princess's daughters. This book was very short and the stories were an extenion of what went on in the first book. The story was generally based on the prnicess's daughters and thier characters and personalities. How they develop and become different people. One is quite similar to her mother and the other takes after her aunty. It nice to see how the daughters develop into adults after reading about thier mother developing from a child into an adult.
The mother herself changes and swings from one mood to the next and the effect is shown on her as the books pogress and she realises what her weaknesses and tries to deal with them as best she can.
The daughters themselves have an easier life then their mother and one daughter Maha takes this for granted. It was nice to see the love Amani has for animals and the effect shown on her and how she learns to deals with things when she finds her uncles birds are in danger and kept in poor conditions. Also the feelings Maha develops when she witnesses her uncles Herem and the women he is holding there brings an intense and agressive side to Maha who tries her best to help these women out of the place. She is hurt to realise that things like that can happen in Saudia Arabia and in the Royal family. She with her mother try their best to get them out, but are not sucessful and give up.
However, if you take this as a update then you dont be diappointed. If read this thinking you a reading another side to the story or a different theme altogethrethen you may be diappointed.
I enjoyed it.......2006-11-02
I am greatly interested in the Middle East. This book helped me to begin that process of understanding. It is horrific what the fundamentilist's section of their religion has done to the women there.
A Necessary Follow-up.......2006-07-25
I read the first book in the "Princess" series and read this one soon after. At first, it was a bit less exciting than the first book in the trilogy, as it has far less shocking new stories and startling information about life in Saudi Arabia.
However, by the time I finished the book, I realized how important it was. While the first "Princess" book lights a fire in the reader as they feel Princess Sultana's rage with women's rights, "Princess Sultana's Daughters" demonstrates how difficult it is for anyone in Saudi Arabia to have an impact on the barbaric social norms. It is not merely an update on Princess Sultana's life, as she raises 3 teenagers, but rather it is an update on the fight for women's rights in Saudi Arabia. There are several stories of not only women, but also men, in the royal family who want to change many of the social customs that have been so long accepted; yet when they try to reason with authority, rebel against it, or even flee the country, they are most often met with a force greater than themselves, and horrifying consequences. Thus, they are often driven to accept the ways of the culture and keep their mouths shut as they grow old behind the veil.
In short, "Princess Sultana's Daughters" makes you realize that the battle is much harder and the future more grim than the first book would have you beleive. Sadly, it delivers a large dose of reality and a small amount of hope.
Followup.......2006-07-12
This book was filled with a lot of depressing stories, albeit, they were told well and interesting, but they were depressing. However, if you liked the first Princess book, there is no doubt that you'll enjoy this one too.
It's not as good as the first, but it's a pretty good followup.
Amazon.com
The worst maritime disaster in American history has received little historical attention, even though more people died from the 1865 Sultana explosion than drowned when the Titanic sank in 1912. Gene Eric Salecker painfully reconstructs the events leading up to the tragedy, when more than 2,000 federal troops crowded onto a side-wheel steamboat built to carry fewer than 300 people. Most of them were former prisoners of war, paroled after the Confederate surrender and finally heading home after years of struggle. We will never know why three of the Sultana's big boilers blew up and claimed 1,700 lives, although Salecker runs through several possible causes. Disaster on the Mississippi is an authoritative account of a forgotten chapter of American history.
Customer Reviews:
Bravo Gene, from a former colleague!.......2003-12-07
What an fascinating nugget of US History. The soldiers got their just day with your vivid and detailed account. Fact truly is stranger than fiction. I felt like I truly got a naval education, didn't know much about ships/boats before this read.
BTW, this is Patrick.
Historically accurate and vividly written.......2001-03-07
I was very impressed with this book. It was obviously well researched and includes numerous quotes from survivors. Historical documents enhance the first hand accounts.
The details of the boat trip including the explosion are vividly written. This is the best book I've read about the Sultana Tragedy.
Recounting a forgotten disaster.......2000-08-12
The sinking of the steamboat Sultana was the deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. History. Strangely, even though it occurred at the end of the Civil War and most of the dead were returning Union POWs, it is an almost forgotten event. Author Salecker recalls the bureaucratic bungling and corruption that helped lead to the diaster as well as a harrowing account from the survivors. This is a good history book that sheds light on the memories of the dead and the survivors.
Excellent - MUST reading for all history buffs........1999-05-30
Very well researched and composed. One feels as if they are right there with the soldiers and civilians as they struggle for survival not only from the flames that are engulfing them, but from the mass of humanity that is in the frigid waters of the swollen Mississippi.
Very vivid accounts of suffering with physical and mental challanges in a time when the soldiers should be almost at their happiest moment - going home.
Average customer rating:
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Sultana (Biblioteca)
Jean Sasson
Manufacturer: Debolsillo
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Princess Sultana's Daughters
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Princess Sultana's Circle (Princess Trilogy)
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Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
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Las Cadenas de Sultana (Biblioteca)
ASIN: 0307274209
Release Date: 2005-06-07 |
Customer Reviews:
Respeto y aliento.......2006-11-03
Jamás pensé que un ligro como éste puedise despertar tanto odio hacia los hombres y sus leyes ridículas en las que la mujer es menos que un animal cuando es ésta mujer la que te trae al mundo con dolor y angustias. Se necesitan en el mundo más mujeres como Sultana yo por mi parte he adoptado un segundo nombre adivina cual
Customer Reviews:
Breathtaking!.......2001-02-07
Absolutely wonderful! Prince Michael takes you into the breathtakingly beautiful, and absolutely terrifying world of slavery and living ones life in a Harem. I was completely captivated from first page to last as he told Aimee's story. I laughed, and cried as the story sweeps you through her life in the Harem, and her ability to persevere against enemies, loss, terror and her ultimate rise to power. I would highly reccomend this book!
Excellant!.......1999-10-08
This book was well-written and well researched. The author knows the world of the Harem and different steps to become the power behind the throne (The Valide Sultan). He begins with Aimee's life in Martinique and her school days in France. Then there is the trip home, when she is shipwrecked and captured. Then taken as a gift to the Sultan. Her training, being given a new name (Nakshidil) all ring true. Wonderful book!
Customer Reviews:
Well written .......2006-02-11
We have a museum in our little river town , it is a sternwheeler from the early 20's , I used to go there with my friends and brothers and roam around and just soak up history...on one of the walls (that were filled with memorabilia and posters) was a poster of the Sultana with a drawing of it blowing up and telling of the great loss of life...so when my brother told me of a book he read of the event I had to get it too...this book covers the ship's last voyage from beginning to end and is very good...I learned a lot from this book..a lot of interesting photos too...
The loss of the steamship Sultana and thousands of soldiers........2005-10-30
This is a little known event in the Civil War era. The Sultana was carrying released Union prisoners of war from Vicksburg to Camp Chase in Ohio. Due to an imcomplete repair of one of the four boilers and the vast over crowding of the steamship, there was a huge explosion a few miles above Memphis on the Mississippi River. The explosion and sinking resulted in the loss of between one-two thousand people, mostly soldiers.
Potter, who is a lawyer by trade, investigates why there were so many soldiers on board and why the boiler repair was incomplete. His theory is that the Captain-Mason bribed the Head Quartermaster Hatch so that all the released soldiers were placed on board the Sultana rather than two other steamships. The Captain also hastened the repairs of the boiler rather than take the ship out of service. This set the situation up for the accident. These two factors caused the ship to roll much and the boilers were affected. When the boilers blew, the resulting fire doomed a great majority of men.
Potter also describes life in the Confederate prisoner of war camps and what it was like for those who had to live a life in one. These soldiers were indeed weakened to the point where they could not muster much energy to save themselves when the steamship was sinking. When they went into the water, most drowned.
This is a great short read on a little known event of the Civil War. Potter did a great job writing a very informative history of a little known tragedy.
Reveres those lost and renews lost history, marvelous !.......2005-05-11
Mr. Potter has done a great service, in the service of bringing to life (literally) the wonderfully detailed personification of the steamboat "Sultana's" explosion and fiery sinking; woven marvelously into the adept story-telling describing how such an event would vanish from history, and the circumstances that created each and all.
Extensively documented, fleshing out all angles of the event before, during and after.
Simply marvelous.
A much needed reminder of a "forgotten" event........2000-05-05
One of the returning Union POW's on the Sultana was my 3rd Great-Uncle Pvt. Wesley Lee of the Ohio 102nd Infantry. Uncle Wesley was one of the fortunate ones. He survived that awful disaster. Jerry Potter has done a great service to Uncle Wesley's comrades who perished in the Sultana explosion and aftermath. His excellent research, along with Gene Salecker's earlier work, goes a long way to bringing to light what has to rank as America's most "forgotten" tragedy. No Civil War library shelf is complete without this book.
The Most Forgotten Tragedy in American History.......2000-01-14
I finished reading The Sultana Tragedy: America's Greatest Maritime Disaster on December 7 while on vacation in Aruba. The news of that day was that it was 58 years since that infamous day at Pearl Harbor. Yet it struck me odd that practically no one today was aware of the Sultana tragedy of April 27, 1865. The 2300 killed by the enemy at Pearl Harbor were only slightly higher than the estimated 1800 who lost their lives that forgotten night with the Sultana.
As my fifth and seventh grade sons stepped into the overheated Jacuzzi to listen to Jerry Potter's story, the initial shock of the excessive hot water put them in an appropriate listening mood. Memphis Attorney Potter's study of the disaster is no doubt the most comprehensive examination of this 133-year-old incident. Why, I wondered, why did this disaster become lost in the memories of America? While I have vague memories of the Sultana from my Tennessee history professors and Memphis law school days, Potter's book easily captivated my attention as I roved through its 300 pages with 655 footnotes, pictures and a comprehensive list of the passengers. Perhaps, this history was lost because of timing. April 1865 had seen headlines of the end of the Civil War, the assassination of President Lincoln and the capture of John Wilkes Booth. And the Eastern newspapers were apparently not that interested in what happened on America's western front.
My sons being very familiar with last year's top movie, "Titanic," gave their full attention as I explained what I had just read. As a 31 year veteran of the Army and history buff, it puzzled me also why the Army has not covered this topic substantially. The Titanic's 1522 deaths are less than the 1800 who died with the Sultana. Of the approximately 765 individuals who immediately survived the disaster, nearly half would die within days of their recovery from the dark and cold Mississippi River. These U.S. prisoners of war had just endured the worst of all times at the infamous Andersonville and Cahaba prison camps. Over 20,000 US POWs had died during imprisonment while the South had over 23,000 of its prisoners to die in Northern prisons. Many recently released prisoners, weighing in at less than 100 pounds, believed that they were finally going home after the War. The worst was over they thought.
The Sultana Steamship, one of the largest and best steamers supposedly every made, was only designed to carry 376 passengers. In the hurry to leave Vicksburg, an estimated 2500+ passengers crowded aboard, including crew and other non-military passengers. The Steamship Captain hurried a boiler repair that remains the primary suspect of the explosion, yet others believed that perhaps a revengeful Rebel might have placed explosives in the coal. Bribery, political influence, greed, indifference, criminal misconduct, and gross stupidity allowed the overloading of the ship at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Visions of being home in a few days perhaps were worth the crowding in the minds of these ex-prisoners who had seen much worst.
Prior to departure, the steamer's first clerk remarked that this would be greatest trip ever made on western waters since there were more people on the Sultana's board than previously carried on any one boat in the Mississippi River. The Sultana also carried a large store of freight of sugar, wine, mules, hogs, and the crew's pet alligator. Due to the spring time floods of the Mississippi River, water was cold and swift; the river spread several miles as it flowed over fields and its banks. Even though other steamers were available, the ship's crew and passengers wanted to get the trip on.
At approximately 2 a.m., April 28, 1865, the worst nightmare that could occur happened. The Sultana's boilers blew sending scalding steam over many passengers; decks crashed pinning hundreds of passengers in an inferno to burned alive, and it was miles to the shore in icy cold water- and there was only one lifeboat. For days following, bodies were found floating in the Mississippi - many unclothed. Animals were found lunching on human carcasses days later.
My sons asked why no movies tell the story concerning the Sultana since it includes hundreds of touching stories. Assuming Potter's accurate description, perhaps it is really too tragic for viewers to envision. I wondered where could actors be found to portray the large group of frail men on the steamer? Absent Hitler's holocaust camps, perhaps there have been no collection of humans as frail as these released Confederate Prisoner of War Camps survivors.
While citizens of Memphis, whose allegiance had been with the opposing force, opened their homes and care giving to the survivors with true Southern hospitality, the aftermath of seeking fault and blame paints a sad story. Potter's research included the investigations that followed. Further, the lengthy court-martial of Captain Frederick Speed who was convicted but then set aside by the Army's Judge Advocate General. No doubt this explosion should not have rested on one lowly Captain when others were equally or more responsible. Although it is apparent that there were many faults in arriving at the disaster and even questions as to what caused the Sultana's boilers' to explode, the matter was swept under the rug.
Most tragic is the manner in which this country treated these victims. This feeling is best summarized by a bitter survivor: "The men who endured the torments of a hell on earth, starved, famished from thirst, eaten with vermin, having endured all the indignities, insults and abuses possible for an armed bully to bestow upon them, to be so soon forgotten does not speak well for our government or for the American people."
Book Description
Sultana's Dream, first published in 1905 in a Madras English newspaper, is a witty feminist utopia-a tale of reverse purdah that posits a world in which men are confined indoors and women have taken over the public sphere, ending a war nonviolently and restoring health and beauty to the world.
"The Secluded Ones" is a selection of short sketches, first published in Bengali newspapers, illuminating the cruel and comic realities of life in purdah.
Suggested for course use in:
History
Indian Literature
South Asian Studies
Utopian Fiction
Women's Studies
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880 - 1932) was a Bengali Muslim writer and feminist activist who founded the first Muslim girls' school in Calcutta in 1911.
Customer Reviews:
Powerful Stuff.......2007-08-16
If you are at all interested in Feminism then you must read this book. Discusses Purdah and the utopia dream of Hossain.
Primarily non-fiction.......2003-01-15
Purdah, or the seclusion of a group of people from the rest of the world, is a practice still alive and well in several parts of the world. While it may not be very common in India at the beginning of the twenty-first century, it was quite common during the first half of the twentieth. This book presents short story "Sultana's Dream" and the recollections of women living under purdah complied by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. There is also an introduction to each work and an analysis of Hossain's life and writing by Roushan Jahan interspersed between each piece. In other words, there are four individual essays and one short story in this collection. It could be difficult for women today who do not live in purdah to understand but it is important to remember our collective past and realise similar things are happening today.
Purdah.... a complex issue.......2001-03-12
This little book was more than just an extraordinary short story written by a woman in 1905 who examined and questioned purdah by turning the issue into a humorous "dream" sequence (in a place where the men are in purdah!) - it is also a compilation of other materials in the examination of what purdah is and means. Relatively unknown and not understood in the West, "purdah" ("parda" in Hindi, meaning 'curtain') is the seclusion and segregation of women (even from other women, not of the family) and is a tradition that is thrust upon women of many Middle Eastern and Asian societies. In the West we confusedly belief it is only Muslim when in fact other religions undertake it as well.
Rokeya Hossain wrote Sultana's Dream at the urging of her husband who was quite forward-thinking (for an Asian male in the early part of the last century!) and who believed that by writing, she would be able to perfect her English skills. The Dream is brilliantly simple and clearly written. The idea that a woman in purdah should suddenly find herself in a place where it is the men in the society who are hidden away and where life is peaceful and intellectual thought and political balance are the norm (as a result of not having the men out messing things up), is a delight even to a contemporary Western reader.
The second section of this book is a section complied by Roushan Jahan in which Hossain's writing about purdah (from a book called "The Secluded Ones") is reproduced in the form of various 'reports' all of which demonstrate something fundamentally absurb or violent about being in purdah. The third section is a piece by a Western woman named Hanna Papanek who examines how much more complicated purdah is than just a means by which men in a given society control and suppress women. That definition is certainly valid, but Papanek also examines a case where a woman raised in purdah finds "exposure" (after a life of purdah) to be fraught with fear and discomfort.
In all, a fascinating and in a strange sense appalling cultural phenomena that is basically unknown to the West, purdah is handed here to the reader in a way that makes it possible to examine it without generating the viseral anger that the idea raises in most educated women. I am strongly inclined to study the issue further and to find "The Secluded Ones" - once I feel strong enough not to let it infuriate me!
Average customer rating:
- A girl escape the war torn south only to find more disaster.
- From a Southern girl's perspective.
- Awesome book!
- Great book!
- My Favorite Book!
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Emma Eileen Grove
Kathleen Duey
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0689803850 |
Customer Reviews:
A girl escape the war torn south only to find more disaster........2000-08-05
When Emma, her older brother, and her younger sister left their home behind to seek refuge with their relatives in St. Louis, they thought they had left the worst of the destruction wrought by the Civil War behind. And they have. However, on board the Sultana, a paddle wheel boat headed up the Mississippi River, they find a new terror when the boat explodes and catches fire. Separated from their brother, Emma and her little sister must stay alive and find a way off the burning boat. An action-packed survival story filled with historical details.
From a Southern girl's perspective........1999-05-17
Good characters. Good background plot. Good not over descriptive, but historically correct action. Good subject. Good book... what more can I say?
Awesome book!.......1998-06-11
What if a war tore your family apart and changed your life forever? What if your mother was dead and you didn't know whether your father was dead or alive? What if you had to journey far from your home, and during that journey were surrounded by the enemy? What if your older brother was always getting into fights with the enemy soldiers and you, just twelve years old, had to rely on yourself and take care of your little sister on your own? What if the riverboat you were travelling on suddenly blew up and you had to fight to keep yourself and your little sister alive? What if you suddenly had to take help from your enemies if you wanted to live to see the next day? In Emma Eileen Grove, Kathleen Duey gives a powerful answer to these questions. Read this book or your missing out on something great!
Great book!.......1998-02-03
Emma's mother died of an illness during the Civil War, and Emma and her brother and sister havn't heard from their father, a Confederate soldier, in a long time. Emma, her brother, and sister take the steamboat Sultana north to St. Louis to live with relatives. But when a explosion occurs on board the Sultana, Emma must fight for survival - and is helped by the people she least expected help from.
My Favorite Book!.......1997-11-13
This is the story of Emma, a 12 year old Southern Girl. Emma is going north after the Civil War with her brother and sister. But luck has it she is stuck on the boat THE SULTANA and it is full of Yankees. Emma hates the Yankees after what they did to her family. Her father went off to fight them and she hasn't heard from him yet. And the Yankees stole everything from her farm. And the Mother was sick and she didn't take well to having no sheets and then she died. So now Emma is on the boat. But a disaster happens. There is an explosion. Emma makes a friend in someone she never knew and she must save her life.
Customer Reviews:
Reprint of a Classic, Plus.......2007-03-09
Dr. David Madden founded the Civil War website at LSU and is a real student of the war. This book gives accounts by the survivors of the largest maritime disaster in our nation's history--more lives lost than on the Titanic. The disaster occurred so close to the Lincoln Assassination and Booth Chase and so near the end of the Civil War that it has been largely lost to history.
Many of the soldiers were former prisoners of war at Andersonville (GA) and Cahaba (AL) and were weakened from near starvation. My ancestor was a private in the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry (USA) that had been captured by Gen. N.B. Forrest at Sulphur Springs Trestle, Alabama (near Athens, AL). He survived the disaster, floated to shore at Memphis (the sinking was eight miles north of Memphis on the Mississippi at the Hens and Chickens Islands), walked home to Monroe County (south of Knoxville) and fathered six children, my grandmother included.
Dr. Madden's introduction to the book is worth the entire cost, as he covers the essentials admirably.
Books by Jerry Potter and Gene Salecker give more details on the disaster, the packet boat itself and the trial attempting to assess the responsibility for vast overcrowding, but these first person accounts are priceless.
The annual reunion of the Sultana Descendents will be held in Athens, Alabama on April 13-14, 2007 with Dr. Madden present and speaking.
J.C. Tumblin, Past-President
Knoxville Civil War Roundtable
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