In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom | 
 enlarge | Author: Qanta A. Ahmed
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
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Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 21173
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 1402210876
Dewey Decimal Number: 610.82092
EAN: 9781402210877
ASIN: 1402210876
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
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Product Description
"In this stunningly written book, a Western trained Muslim doctor brings alive what it means for a woman to live in the Saudi Kingdom. I've rarely experienced so vividly the shunning and shaming, racism and anti-Semitism, but the surprise is how Dr. Ahmed also finds tenderness at the tattered edges of extremism, and a life-changing pilgrimage back to her Muslim faith." - Gail Sheehy
The decisions that change your life are often the most impulsive ones.
Unexpectedly denied a visa to remain in the United States, Qanta Ahmed, a young British Muslim doctor, becomes an outcast in motion. On a whim, she accepts an exciting position in Saudi Arabia. This is not just a new job; this is a chance at adventure in an exotic land she thinks she understands, a place she hopes she will belong.
What she discovers is vastly different. The Kingdom is a world apart, a land of unparralled contrast. She finds rejection and scorn in the places she believed would most embrace her, but also humor, honesty, loyalty and love.
And for Qanta, more than anything, it is a land of opportunity. A place where she discovers what it takes for one woman to recreate herself in the land of invisible women. (20080801)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 27 more reviews...
 This book needs re-editing December 23, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I find it ironic that the author is effusively grateful to her editor as a worse-edited book would be hard to find. Enough was said here about the interesting content and I agree fully that the author is a fountain of knowledge on the fascinating subject of Saudi Arabia. The read is however a jarring experience of purple prose, repetitions, malapropisms and obsessive preoccupation with physical appearance and designer's brands. I found it impossible to gain speed with distractions of that nature. By all means, buy the book for its informative value but don't expect much in the form of language.
 Making the Invisible Visible December 14, 2008
Although I agree with the negative comments about the technical aspects of the book, they did not in the least interfere with its overall value. This offers a excellent look into a stratified and structured society that not only veils women, but the thoughts, feelings and ideas of the men as well. I read it during the time period of the 2008 Haj and appreciated the factual as well as the emotional and spiritual description of this experience. As a Catholic Christian, it was interesting to note that despite many differences, there is also much common ground in terms of the importance of ritual worship (including sacred places and holy water) the power of the Divine and the journey of faith that is both individual and communal. This book provides an excellent antidote to the fear and ignorance that leads to most of the animosity and violence that we experience today.
Read this Amazing Journey! December 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Dr. Ahmed shares her inspirational journey to the Kingdom and we, her readers, are fortunate to be taken along as her guests for an amazing trip as she opens our eyes to the beauty of the people of Sudia Arabia and a deepening understand of her religion. This is a very well written book. Dr. Ahmed is an expert at interweaving her own personal story with the extraordinary men and women who struggle daily to make changes to the Kingdom. The last two chapters are very revealing to the reader, we see Dr. Ahmed emerge as a very confident, strong Muslim woman at peace with herself and her religion. This inspirational journey will leave the reader with a greater understanding, respect and tolerance of her religion and the people of Saudi Arabia.
Excellent multidimensional view of Saudi Arabian people November 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book based on an Amazon suggestion. After reading other reviews, I decided to purchase it. It was well worth the time and money. Ahmed presented a fully fleshed out, multidimensional view of people in Saudi Arabia. This was a compelling book to read and I couldn't put it down for several days. I highly recommend it!
One Woman's Journey November 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
One thing I've noticed, and taken advantage of, since the horrors of 9-11 is the increase in titles published in the U.S. pertaining to various Muslim cultures. I've read more than a dozen such titles in the last two or three years, both fiction and nonfiction, some written by Muslims and others by non-Muslims living in Muslim countries. I've learned something from each of them, but Qanta Ahmed's In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom is one of the most instructive of them all.
Qanta Ahmed, a British citizen raised in a moderate Muslim family in the U.K., received her medical education in the United States and considers the U.S. to be her second home (she currently practices medicine in South Carolina). But when she unexpectedly found herself without the visa necessary to remain in New York she accepted a position in a Saudi Arabian hospital and set out on what she figured would be an exotic adventure, an opportunity for her to experience life in a country dominated by Islam. Ahmed remained in Saudi Arabia for two years during which she learned as much about herself as she learned about Islam and the culture in which she had immersed herself.
Arriving at the King Fahad National Guard Hospital completely unprepared for the atmosphere in which she would be working, Ahmed was surprised to find herself being so ignored by the hospital's almost exclusively male medical staff. She quickly learned that she would be allowed to practice medicine unveiled, dressed in white lab coat and trousers, but that her medical opinion would almost automatically be considered inferior to that of any of her male colleagues.
Ahmed found herself resenting, and being frustrated by, the limitations placed on the women of Saudi Arabia. She learned that these women, herself included, could only be seen in public if their dress conformed to strict Muslim law (never a strand of hair to be exposed), that they were not allowed to drive a car, that they could not leave the country without the permission of a father, brother or husband, and that "morality policemen," known as the Mutawaeen were more than willing to make sure that women strictly complied with what was required of them.
But, as Ahmed learned when she grew closer to her female colleagues, all is not as it seems in Saudi society. Many women, because of the support offered them by their fathers and husbands, are being allowed to enter professions long closed to them and to open businesses of their own. They are raising their daughters to become confident, outspoken women who consider themselves to be the equals of their brothers in every way. She discovered progressive families filled with idealists and community activists determined to bring change to the Saudi system, change that will bring many Western liberal values to the kingdom.
Ahmed, however, was shocked to find just how far Saudi Arabia still has to go in terms of its racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Americanism. She found that even the large number of Saudi doctors trained by Jewish teachers, teachers they considered to be their personal friends, were still unable to get past their rabid anti-Semitism. She felt firsthand the personal hurt of watching close friends and colleagues celebrate what happened to America on September 11, 2001, some even going so far as to buy celebratory cakes for the hospital within minutes of the news.
Despite her many dismaying experiences, Ahmed left Saudi Arabia feeling much closer to Islam than when she arrived in the country. Her friends patiently instructed her in the nuances of the religion and her completion of the Hajj inspired her in an almost magical way. Readers unfamiliar with what happens in Mecca during the Hajj will be fascinated by the logistics of that annual celebration as described by Ahmed, and will understand exactly how large numbers of people can sometimes die in the midst of a religious experience of this magnitude.
In the Land of Invisible Women, particularly since it was written by a woman with a foot in two worlds, is a real eye-opener.
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