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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.

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Sultana

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Sultana - literally meaning Princess in English. Princess, as per the author, is a true story by a Saudi princess named Sultana for secrecy purposes. There are incidents shared by Sultana that made me feel sad for the women born and brought up in Saudi Arabia. As per the narrations in the book, even the women from the royal family are living a life that is dependent on the male members of the family. Women can't move around independently, they need a male member to accompany them all the times. How the male children are given more preference over females. It's sad to know about such unfortunate incidents still prevalent in today's world. The only concern that I see is that if there are such extremes in one society, it would surely lead to a major uproar sooner or later. In a society where a male member is given so much of freedaom that he does not know how to handle it & misues it; on the other hand, where a female has no freedom at all, even in her own home, such that one day either she suffers silently, or dies, or worse still - does things that totally defies all rules of a society! What kind of a society would it be! I seriously feel the rules must be relaxed a bit, such that the society as a whole functions smoothly.

Unbelievable story

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Just read the book. One of my friends (non-muslim) sent it to me. She wanted to know if it's all true. Well, here is my answer, i cannot believe this story was told by a real person, it is more likely that the author during 10 year in Saudi Arabia was collecting her own diary of gossips and prejudices. The author seems to collect everything bad about the country to put it in one book and tells it was told by Saudi, so nobody would say anything bad about her. Sultana seemed to be rebellious only on words but when she had a chance actually to do something she didn't go further than telling her husband. The recitations of Quran are taken out of context or/and incomplete. Very often was used phrase like "most of muslims" implying that all muslims are like Saudi people. Just for the record everything happening in the book is condemned in Islam. For example, a man cannot take second wife without permission of first wife; Veil (burka, paranja) is not a compulsory; a bride has to approve a man she is marrying and only with here permission the marriage is possible; not mentioning rape, murder, beatings etc. Somebody might say that alright the book is about Saudi Arabia, which is true, but so many times you could read phrases like "most of muslims...", "we muslims...", "in islam...", and stuff like that, not "we Saudi...", "most of saudi...". This kind of parallel makes you think that all muslim men are like men in Saudi Arabia. Plus everything that was mentioned there (rape, for example) is happening all over the world, hypocrites are everywhere. So the whole book smells islamophobia. Overall it is not different from other romantic novels, where main heroine is beautiful, rebellious, and full of dreams. Thank you for reading.

A life of misery - but is it true?

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The author relates the story of Sultana, a Princess of Saudi Arabia, from childhood to adulthood. We see Sultana's life of unimaginable luxury with palaces, servants, and jewels but, alas, being a female she is a prisoner in her home, subject to the iron will of her father and brother. This is a good story, but I took it as a fictional story. I never once believed that Sultana was real and that she told these stories. I know the cruelties described in the book exist, but I think "Sultana" is a combination of many nameless Saudi women. Had the author not tried to present this as a memoir but just factually reported the officially-sanctioned abominations that women endure there, I would have liked it better. She tried to manipulate me into feeling pity for the poor little rich girl with tedious and amateurish fiction. None of it rang true. The author lived in Saudi Arabia for ten years; I would have rather read an account of her experiences than this phony-sounding autobiography. It's right to expose these injustices but the truth is enough; there's no need to embellish it with trumped-up characters. For a moving and much better-written story of women behind the veil, I recommend A Thousand Splendid Suns.

A very good read

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I first read this book when I was 16, and I loved it. It is a work of non-fiction, and based on a true story of a Saudi Arabian princess and her family. She opens up about the injustices the women of Saudi suffer (sexism, FGM, favoritism, not having a say in one's marriage, how society turns a blind eye to abusive husbands, and how she supports a woman's right to freedom.) It is an empowering read, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It also has 2 sequels, "Daughters of Arabia" and "Desert Royal" which are equally stirring and totally worth the buy if you like "Princess". The sequels are tough to find at a library, though.

God bless you, Jean P. Sasson.

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I read this book without regard to ethnicity or political belief. I read it as a woman -- as a human being who suffered at the thought of what other women are enduring in the name of "religion" or "culture." There is no explanation possible to make this palatable to anyone with a conscience. To let it pass without mention is an abomination, akin to denying the Holocaust. There is no justification possible in the eyes of God. To the perpetrators of this inhumanity to women, I can only promise you that God is watching. Any other comment on these perpetrators is superfluous.