The second installment of our blog post took me to the ‘autobiographies and memoirs’ section of the bookstore, the section I never bothered to visit before. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, in fact it was rather intriguing, going from one book to another, switching from one story to another i lost track of time. I went through almost 6-7 different books until I found the one that caught my attention pretty hard.The cover bore the picture of a girl wearing a veil,beaded headband and her eyes were painted a pretty shade of blue.The girl in the picture was a serene beauty but there was something captivating about her facial expression;blank, emotionless, yet crying for recognition.The title of the book was, ‘PRINCESS: A TRUE STORY OF LIFE BEHIND A VEIL IN SAUDI ARABIA‘.Written by Jean Sasson, the book tells a true story of a Saudi Arabian princess, Sultana who dared to share her story with readers across the globe because she thought it was time the world knew the truth about the life of a princess. The name ‘Sultana’ is used to keep the identity of the princess anonymous because the kind of information she reveals about the life of Arab royals can be considered punishable. The book sheds light on Sultana’s life, how she has every necessity and accessory, be it big mansions, fancy cars,designer clothes, expensive jewelry or even a private jet. If an outsider were to see her life they would say she pretty much had it all, living the dream of every other teenage girl but little did they know that the reality of her life was quite the opposite. It is this misconception that sultana tries to clear up as she tells the readers how her life as a princess involved being ruled by the will of her father at first, and after having an arranged marriage, was made to live on the principles of her husband and sons. Further more she elaborates how she had little or no control over her own life, how her husband married another woman and how she became nothing more than the bearer of his sons and how she just spent her life in a blur behind her floor length veil in an invisible cage that always kept her bounded within herself. Its the issue of gender inequality in Saudi Arabia which is growing worse with time as the law fails to recognize the basic human rights of women such as freedom of speech and freedom of choosing their own life partner and freedom to live their life on their own terms. The Arab society gives all authority to the men and gives them a right to enforce their will on their wives and daughters and if a girl disobeys or rebels against them, as per the law she could be subjected to punishments such as drowning,stoning and isolation to a cell with no windows. After suffering for years sultana finally decided to break free of the “gilded cage” (Amazon book review) she was trapped in and she dared to speak against her rulers because she didn’t want her daughters to go through the same mental trauma she had to go through.

I believe by speaking against the unjust behavior towards women in the modern Arab society, Sultana has raised awareness regarding this ethical issue on a global platform and evoked compassion and a sense of sympathy for girls like her who have no say in their own lives. It is what Gillian Whitlock talks about in her book “we shall bear witness” that how testimonial life narratives can be used to awaken an “ethical awareness” (Whitlock 86) among people regarding those in suffering. Moreover this insight into her life narrative holds the power to motivate other girls who are going through a similar struggle but don’t really know how they can escape it or fight it. I personally admire Sultana’s bravery to initiate the first step towards achieving a more fair, equal and just society for women because it is always the first step that is the hardest and the most difficult one that everyone is reluctant to take, but Sultana did and I can assure you I’m not the only who is truly moved by her story. If you want to read the interesting and compassionate reviews of her readers follow the link below.

Book source:Amazon book review and comments

Gillian whitlock; we shall bear witness