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My biggest takeaway from this memoir was Saudi Arabia is a country FULL of contradictions. Because this book was published in 2008, a lot of the Kingdom‘s restrictions have finally been lifted making large portions of material hopefully no longer relevant. Still fascinating! I enjoyed the parts that revolved around her work as a physician,however her constant need to drop labels was disappointing giving me a poor impression of her character👇🏽

I appreciate Dr Qanta Ahmed‘s honesty in calling out the discrimination, contradictions, inconsistencies and biases that are rampant throughout the Kingdom and the Muslim world. Color of skin is judged harshly in the Kingdom and the women tend to label or stigmatized other women by their skin color and ethnicity. Upon first meeting most women assume Dr. Ahmed is a maid & therefore inferior because she is of Pakistani descent. #LiveAndLearn

I am learning SO MUCH about Islam and #SaudiArabia #ReadingAsia21 Checks other prompts too!!!

Published in 2016: “I knew already that it was illegal for a woman to drive a car in Saudi Arabia. In Riyadh, I‘d be licensed to operate procedures on critically ill patients yet never to drive a motor vehicle, that was a privilege extended only to men.” In June 2018 the ban was lifted.

Up Next: #ReadingAsia21 #SaudiArabia #Booked21 #CovidHeroes #NonFictionChallenge21 #AboutDoctorNurse #Pop21 #MuslimAuthor

An look at life in Saudi Arabia from the perspective of a British Pakistani female doctor. I was intrigued by her description of the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). However there are so many issues with the writing and editing. Where to begin? Repetitive. Flowery language (she writes about her crush like a romance novelist). Brand name-dropping. Lengthy and rather preachy conversations that go on and on. I did a lot of skimming and cringing.

Thought provoking and fosters an appreciation of all we have in the US

“Nothing is as fierce or imbed with goodness as the oppressed who have overcome their cowardly oppressor. It is these small women, scurrying around in their abbayahs, who will seize their justice from the jaws of the extremists and wrest their new place beyond the gender apartheid which is still the kingdom. The gender apartheid committed in the name of Islam is already dying, rasping it‘s last, soured breaths.” Page 436

“It is these same women who hold the keys to change...it is the voices of these mothers, wives, sisters, aunts, and daughters that we crave their voices that narrow men fear. It is women‘s voices that are becoming audible, women‘s actions that are becoming visible, and through their actions, Saudi women who are daily becoming more powerful.” Pg 436

“It is women who really opened the door to the society for me. Women who confides, women who guided, women who competed, women who disdained, women who were illiterate yet memorized the Quran, women who could repair aneurysms but could not make a three point turn, women who were objects of affection from even within their closed veils.” Pg 436

“Hesham stopped, sobbing for a long time. I listened, unable to bridge the gulf of grief and gender between us.” Pg 101

“Now my home, it was also my prison” pg 71

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain
Thanks for tag @Klou @gradcat
1 tagged book, a fascinating read written by a Muslim woman who is employed in Saudi Arabia as a physician. She is originally from England, of Pakistani heritage
2 a Prager U podcast, learn lots of things.
3 the seven or eight deaths of Stella fortuna, sent my friend a copy for her birthday, we talked long distance about it

I had to recheck this out from the library because it took me a while to get into it. I absolutely loved learning about the culture differences between what I know of western culture and the culture in Saudi Arabia! I highly recommend if you're wanting to broaden your own cultural knowledge from inside the Kingdom.