Aquileo | In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom: Ahmed MD, Qanta: 9781402210877: Amazon.com: Books

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A strikingly honest look into Islamic culture?―in particular women and Islam?―and what it takes for one woman to recreate herself in the land of invisible women.

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 of Saudi Arabia is a world apart, a land of unparalleled 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.

Very few Islamic books for women give a firsthand account of what it's like to live in a place where Muslim women continue to be oppressed and treated as inferior to men. But if you want to learn more about the Islamic culture in an unflinchingly real way, this book is for you.

"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

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Denied visa renewal in America, British-born Pakistani physician Ahmed, 31, leaves New York for a job in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she celebrates her Muslim faith on an exciting Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca even as she encounters rabid oppression from the state-sanctioned religious extremist police. She is licensed to operate ICU machines in the emergency ward, but as a woman, she is forbidden to drive, and she must veil every inch of herself. Her witty insider-outsider commentary as a Muslim and feminist, both reverent and highly critical, provides rare insight into the upper-class Saudi scene today, including the roles of women and men in romance, weddings, parenting, divorce, work, and friendship. After 9/11, she is shocked at the widespread anti-Americanism. The details of consumerism, complete with Western brand names, get a bit tiresome, but they are central to this honest memoir about connections and conflicts, and especially the clamorous clash of “modern and medieval, . . . Cadillac and camel.” --Hazel Rochman

Review

"Ahmed still beautifully asserts her arguments and confronts the anti-Semitism, the sexism, and the anti-western attitudes she experienced... In the Land of Invisible Women gave me a lot to think about, and just not about the complexities of Saudi Arabia but also my country’s, the U.S.A., interactions within the Middle East. " ― Adventures in Reading

"Ahmed was saddened, distressed, and taken aback by her colleagues’ excitement in reaction to the 9/11 attacks. Her friends talked about how America "deserved" this tragedy because of its support of Israel." ― ForeWord

"Denied visa renewal in America, British-born Pakistani physician Ahmed, 31, leaves New York for a job

in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she celebrates her Muslim faith on an exciting Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca...

After 9/11, she is shocked at the widespread anti-Americanism. The details of consumerism, complete with Western brand names .... are central to this honest memoir about connections and conflicts, and

especially the clamorous clash of "modern and medieval, . . . Cadillac and camel." ― Booklist

"This book is a well -written and fascinating insider's look into life in Saudi Arabia and the challenges that women and sometimes even men must face in their daily lives." ― Bookopolis

"Despite the restrictive customs of Saudi’s religious rule, Ahmed found a vibrancy that left her hopeful. ‘Saudi is much more heterogeneous than one would expect,’ she says. ‘Muslims themselves feel fairly lost in a country so caricatured and vilified for its severe austerity and Wahhabi theocracy, but it’s also the cradle of Islam and the site of the Hajj―a symbol of what Islam could be.’" ― Kirkus Reviews

"In the Land of Invisible Women is a must read for everyone. Why? People must find out how Dr. Ahmed dared to cope with radical Islamic fundamentalism. Rather than misery and despair, her story is one of brightness and optimism for Saudi women. But equally vital, it is a tale of expectation, a hope that brave Saudi men, who dare read her story, might have a jolt of conscience over unjustified cowardly feelings they hold toward women." ― Blog Critics

About the Author

Dr. Ahmed is currently an assistant professor of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, and Assistant Director of the MUSC Sleep Disorders Laboratory. She is a quadruple boarded in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, critical care medicine, and sleep disorders medicine. She continues to practice intensive care medicine. She became a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, a Diplomat and member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

I returned to Khalaa Tarfa, my first patient in the Kingdom. She was a Bedouin Saudi well into her seventies, though no one could be sure of her age (female births were not certified in Saudi Arabia when she had been born). She was on a respirator for a pneumonia which had been slow to resolve. Comatose, she was oblivious to my studying gaze. A colleague prepared her for the placement of a central line (a major intravenous line into a deep vein).

Her torso was uncovered in anticipation.. Another physician sterilized the berry brown skin with swathes of iodine. A mundane procedure I had performed countless times, in Saudi Arabia it made for a starling scene. I looked up from the sterilized field which was quickly submerging the Bedouin body under a disposable sea of blue. Her face remained enshrouded in a black scarf, as if she was out in a market scurrying through a crowd of loitering men. I was astounded.

Behind the curtain, a family member hovered, the dutiful son. Intermittently, he peered at us . He was obviously worrying, I decided, as I watched his slim brown fingers rapidly manipulating a rosary. He was probably concerned about the insertion of the central line, I thought, just like any other caring family member.

Every now and again, he signaled vigorously, rapidly talking in Arabic to instruct the nurse. I wondered what he was asking about and how he could know if we were at a crucial step in the procedure. Everything was going smoothly; in fact soon the jugular would be cannulated. We were almost finished. What could be troubling him?

Through my dullness, eventually, I noticed a clue. Each time the physician's sleeve touched the patient's veil, and the veil slipped, the son burst out in a flurry of anxiety. Perhaps all of nineteen, the son was instructing the nurse to cover the patient's face, all the while painfully averting his uninitiated gaze away from his mother's fully exposed torso, revealing possibly the first breasts he may have seen.

I wondered about the lengths to which the son continued to veil his mother, even when she was gravely ill. Couldn't he see it was the least important thing for her now at this time, when her life could ebb away at any point? Didn't he know God was Merciful, tolerant and understanding and would never quibble over the wearing of a veil in such circumstances, or I doubted, any circumstances?

Somehow I assumed the veil was mandated by the son, but perhaps I was wrong about that as well. Already, I was finding myself wildly ignorant in this country. Perhaps the patient herself would be furious if her modesty was unveiled when she was powerless to resist. Nothing was clear to me other than veiling was essential, inescapable, even for a dying woman. This was the way of the new world in which I was now confined. For now, and the next two years, I would see many things I couldn't understand. I was now a stranger in the Kingdom.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1402210876
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2008
Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781402210877
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1402210877
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.41 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 1.14 x 9.02 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #761,812 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in Saudi Arabia Travel Guides
- #83 in Women in Islam (Books)
- #843 in Medical Professional Biographies
Customer Reviews:
(1,715)

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Qanta Ahmed

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Dr. Qanta Ahmed is the author of In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor’s Journey in the Saudi Kingdom. She is a board certified sleep disorders specialist at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York. She is Associate Professor of Medicine at the State University of New York (Stony Brook). Dr. Ahmed is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. She practices sleep medicine exclusively in Garden City, Long Island.

Previously, she has practiced in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, in the National Guard Health Affairs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. Dr. Ahmed holds an Honorary Professorship at the School of Public Health at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. She is the first Muslim woman and the first physician to be selected to be a 2010 Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellow in Science and Religion at the University of Cambridge, England. The fellowship seeks to ignite public discourse on the nexus of matters scientific and religious, a dialogue she brings here to Huffington Post.

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Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and informative, with one noting how it brings fascinating details to light with clarity. The writing style receives mixed reactions - while some praise it as brilliant, others find it not well written. Customers describe the story as a fascinating journey with a naturally flowing narrative, and appreciate the emotional depth, with one review noting how it makes readers feel as if they're right there with the author. The book's readability and wordiness are also mixed aspects, with some finding it very readable while others find it frustrating to read, and some noting it's a little wordy at times.

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315 customers mention content, 274 positive, 41 negative

Customers find the content of the book engaging and compelling, with several noting it held their interest throughout.

Very interesting, full of personal insights, and truly shines a light on a society that is so different than ours, also gives a deeper feel for the...Read more

...This is a memoir to savor and to read slowly. It is a fascinating and spell binding read. Keep your Webster or Oxford dictionary handy....Read more

This book was an interesting, revealing look at the social and medical world inside Saudi Arabia, with a strong focus on women's lives and issues....Read more

This is a very interesting book written from the perspective of a western Muslim woman about her two year experience working in Saudi Arabia.Read more

184 customers mention informative, 160 positive, 24 negative

Customers find the book informative and insightful, bringing fascinating details to light with clarity and opening their eyes to new perspectives.

It's enlightening and interesting read but I knew it would be when I ordered it but I do not think i could live like that.Read more

...I found Ahmed's accounts of Saudi Arabia both informative and enlightening, and have re-thought some of my own views of the nation....Read more

...as someone without an in-depth knowledge of Islam, I found this book insightful and clear about the various precepts and interpretations of the...Read more

...Women's Rights can be such a cliche topic - this book is educational in showing how the outside world cannot force a country or culture to change....Read more

53 customers mention story, 41 positive, 12 negative

Customers enjoy the story of the book, describing it as a fascinating journey with a naturally flowing narrative, and one customer notes how it overturns western stereotypes.

Wonderful story of a Muslim woman that leaves her life in New York to live in Saudi Arabia for a few years. It seems very authentic and human....Read more

Amazing story!Read more

This is a good story about woman doctor who is trying to make her life in Saudi Arabia....Read more

...The women have no rights at all. Not much of a story line, more details of the way the doctor lived while there and what the customs are.Read more

29 customers mention emotional, 22 positive, 7 negative

Customers find the book emotionally engaging, experiencing a full range of feelings throughout the narrative. One customer notes how the author shares her religious journey with touching sincerity, while another mentions how the real people are described with humility and compassion.

...to fit in and reconcile her beliefs felt very authentic and passionate....Read more

Qanta's heartfelt and introspective account of her experience as an insider-yet-outsider in The Saudi Kingdom opens the door to a world most of us...Read more

This book was/is fantastic. I loved every page. Dr. Ahmed shows great courage and literary style in telling about her experience in KSA....Read more

This book, which was well written was so depressing and made me so angry that I had to stop reading it....Read more

87 customers mention writing style, 60 positive, 27 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing style of the book, with some praising it as brilliant and superb, while others find it not well written.

A very interesting and well written look behind the scenes for what it's like for a western raised/educated Muslim woman living in Saudi Arabia....Read more

Very well written, perceptive and honest I was griped by the telling of the culture clash from living in the west to living under an abbaya....Read more

Poorly written. Too wordy. Material was very interesting but I had to scan the book and not read it thoroughly.Read more

...Kudos to Qanta Ahmed for a beautifully written book.Read more

45 customers mention engaging, 31 positive, 14 negative

Customers have mixed reactions to the book's engaging nature, with some finding it hard to put down, while others describe it as frustrating and maddening.

A disturbing and enlightening look at the way women live their lives in Saudi Arabia. Another "hard to put down" book.Read more

A very interesting and hard to put down book. It opened my eyes to a lot of things I didn't know about the Arab world.Read more

Very interesting but in my view disturbing book. It makes you think and thankful you don't live in those countriesRead more

Couldn't put it down....learnt a lot about this culture and world. Interesting to read about the impact of 9/11 from a different vantage point too.Read more

38 customers mention readability, 22 positive, 16 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's readability, with some finding it very readable and difficult to put down, while others find it frustrating to read.

...Ahmed may not be a "professional writer", she is very coherent and easy to read. I hope she will write again....Read more

...was well written was so depressing and made me so angry that I had to stop reading it....Read more

...It is a quick read, and worth it.Read more

...I recommend it but with the caveat to please get ready for some frustrating reading!Read more

28 customers mention wordiness, 6 positive, 22 negative

Customers find the book wordy at times, with one customer noting that the descriptive passages are overdone and strained, while another mentions that the language is entirely too flowery.

Poorly written. Too wordy. Material was very interesting but I had to scan the book and not read it thoroughly.Read more

Very interesting but very wordy. needed a better editor. Shows a way of living that is so so foreign to anything we know....Read more

...A little wordy at times but well worth the read.Read more

I loved this book because of the original and creative use of words....Read more

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Top reviews from the United States

AmmonArt
An exciting, thought provoking read
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2011
Format: Kindle
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This wonderful book reads both like a Victorian travel book, and hard-hitting investigative journalism.
If you enjoy understanding other cultures and religions - not just the dry facts or sensationalized vignettes, but the thoughts, heart and soul of them, this book is for you.
If you enjoy full-blooded, living characters and descriptive, naturally flowing narrative, this book is for you.
If you want to learn more about the Muslim world with a guide that bridges both the West and the Middle East, this book is for you.
I got Qanta's book because I wanted to learn more - to get behind the publicized caricature of Muslim religion I know next to nothing about, as well as find out what is it like for a woman, like myself, to live in a culture so far removed from mine. What I got was all that, and much more.
Qanta Ahmed's writing style is poetic, rich and intensely personal. Yet, not a single detail she mentions is out of place or superfluous. Despite what some of the other reviews say, every word put down serves to paint a clearer picture or create a deeper emotional understanding of characters and events.
She's exceptionally honest with herself and the readers and doesn't deal in absolutes - if she's ambiguous about something, she doesn't force a judgment... Life is often ambiguous, without clear-cut heroes and villains, and life is what she writes about, even at the cost of losing a reader used to fiction of absolute good-vs-evil.
Yes, the book is quite long. I still couldn't put it down until finished. I lost sleep and took entirely too many breaks at work :-). The fact that the action didn't move at the break-neck speed was not a problem - this is true of most of the classic literature too, and Qanta's style *does* have a strong classic feel to it.
I came out on the other side much informed, emotionally moved, enchanted by quality of Quanta's writing itself, and hopefully, just a tiny bit wiser and more compassionate person.
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Schuyler T Wallace
BOTH INTERESTING AND DEMONIZING - A DISTURBING ACCOUNT OF EXTREMISM
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2018
Format: Paperback
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It is difficult for me as a Western Christian to understand the Saudi kingdom or Islamic culture. As Dr. Qanta Ahmed points out in her book “In the Land of Invisible Women,” it is more than difficult; it is totally irrational to try to define the split between Saudi royalty and the multitudes of disparate tribes within the country where beliefs are in total disarray with each other.
Dr. Ahmed, a British born physician practicing in the United States, loses her visa and elects to practice medicine in a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She immediately finds a culture where she is forced to be completely veiled and submissive to male counterparts who essentially ignore her. Her medical care of unconscious female patients has to be supervised by a male relative to ensure no part of the face is exposed. Other female doctors are expected to cluster in silence in the back of operating or patient rooms. She is unable to travel the city unveiled or to drive in her own vehicle. Collaboration with male contemporaries is limited. She is constantly consigned to an inferior status.
There are times when she has been at meetings with colleagues when the dreaded Mutawaeen, a policing group that violently enforces the Promotion of Virtue and Eradication of Vice policies in the Kingdom, disrupts the assembly. The entire assemblage is subjected to rants and threats of arrest. She also becomes emotionally attracted to a charismatic Saudi doctor but is unable to pursue her self-admitted “crush” without violent penalty to both herself and him.
Needless to say, the assertive physician is not okay with any of that. In her book, Dr. Ahmed constantly pursues information about Islamic beliefs and protocol, attempting to make sense of it all. She is full of questions for Saudi residents and colleagues and seeks anecdotes about everyday existence, both in the medical world and everyday life. After about a year of confusion and turmoil she elects to leave.
Dr. Ahmed, after her eye-opening stay in Saudi Arabia, is still a practicing Muslim, unmarried, and has become a campaigner for peace and pluralism. She reflects on recent slow changes for the better, but is still at odds with lingering Islamic foibles. She is dismayed by a basically unchanged Islamic doctrine that is supremacist, separatist, and hostile to secular Western values. Her stance has put her in direct conflict with current Islamists. As for her love attraction, the mystery must remain within the book. You’ll have to uncover that for yourself by reading about it.
She’s a wonderful writer who brings the fascinating details to light with clarity and a definite viewpoint she’s not afraid to express. I appreciated this interesting look at a world I neither want to live in nor visit.
Schuyler T Wallace
Author of TIN LIZARD TALES
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Emily
An interesting and poignant story brought down by poor writing
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2011
Format: Paperback
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I purchased "In the Land of Invisible Women" because I was interested in learning about Saudi Arabia and how women's rights were influenced by Sharia law. In this respect, the book succeeded. I am taken aback by some of the rights that women in Saudi Arabia are denied. For example, women cannot drive, which effectively places their comings and goings in the hand of male relatives. I believe that this book is a good read for the informational value alone. I think that people in the West should read and learn about the harrowing situation in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries so that we can oppose the oppression of women there.
However, I was distracted by all of the flaws in the book and the author's writing style. For one, the book was WAY too long. It could have been more effective at around 200 pages (instead of 400). The author threw in tons of superfluous writing and felt the need to be overly descriptive, so much that it went on for pages and pages. Furthermore, I feel that Qanta is fairly unlikeable throughout the narrative. She is often nosy and overly judgmental of her Saudi friends. She often wavers on her opinions, sometimes deeply condemning the laws in Saudi Arabia, and other times supporting the laws for keeping her safe and railing against Western courtship ideals. The last thing, which others have pointed out, is that she seemed oddly preoccupied with designer fashion and wealth, which did little to add to the narrative.
Overall, I would recommend this book just for sheer information value. I enjoyed, but despite its relatively many flaws, I can give it only 3 stars.
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43 people found this helpful
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Ash Apple
MUST READ: An amazing & eye-opening account of Saudi life
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2013
Format: Paperback
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Qanta's heartfelt and introspective account of her experience as an insider-yet-outsider in The Saudi Kingdom opens the door to a world most of us will never have the opportunity (or courage) to experience. It's written from an honest perspective, and she is an inspiration for a rare breed of positive, empowering women, pushing forward in self-discovery, cultural evaluation, religious introspection and overall goodness.
It was surprising and eye opening to note the similarities between the traditional Muslim Saudi women and traditional Christian "Southern" women (like myself) brought to light in this book, though one would not expect to find such similarities between two seemingly divergent cultures. This book will help open your mind to connect with these far away women who often appear `hidden.'
We listen to her experience daily life in The Kingdom, but also special occasions such as weddings and `girls nights out' (Saudi Style of course), on her own personal trip to Mecca, her exploration of religion and sense of self. She has a deep respect for faith and all religions, and seeks to share her experiences to open our eyes to an different way of life, an oppressive government and a highly scrutinized religion. She draws a firm line between radical Islam (she was in The Kingdom for 9/11 and this experience is included) and her own very different sense of the Muslim religion, which deserves to be heard. We watch her balancing her professional expectations with personal desires, determining what the Saudi world wants of her (too much or too little?) and how she decides what to give.
Some reviewers have critiqued the writing style and editing. Yes, this is not a text book with facts and a historical story line that reads through as a timeline, nor a mystery novel with continuous conversation. Yet, does real life ever follow these patterns? The book is an honest evaluation and memoir of a real person's experience abroad, comparing her own beliefs and personal experiences and ultimately having the courage to share it all with the public.
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Christine Smith
Enlightening and educational material
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2011
Format: Kindle
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I have been curious about Muslim women and had some preconceived notions of what they were like. I thought they were treated much like slaves were treated and they accepted the abuse and subjugation with a sad dismissal. I was glad to know that they are like the rest of us in many ways and there are actually feminists in their ranks. I have to wonder exactly when the men were allowed to change Islam to enslave them so? Why did they put up with it? How could independent women and open-minded men allow this to happen? The book relates some of this, but not all. I realized the book relayed a spiritual awakening for Qanta. I was happy to see that she learned about her religion, but I wonder why she wasn't taught about this earlier? She isn't alone in this. I realized in all religions, there are people who do not ask questions or learn for themselves. It was such a relief to know she questioned the answers at times and had many questions about everything there.
Others have criticized her style of writing. It was different, but not bad. I have seen much worse from very popular authors who apparently were not introduced to an editor at all. Some of the sayings and initials were a bit much at times, but I imagine if you were to read a Christian book, some of those would tend to irritate as well. One thing that annoyed me was that if you were drawing conclusions about women in Saudi Arabia from this book, they are all the most gorgeous women in the world. If one was to remove the coverings, the beauty would just be incredible! No wonder they are all covered! It would be more than any male could stand. Of course, she also believes the men are also absolutely gorgeous and sexy especially in their robes.
At any rate, I enjoyed the book a lot. It was a real learning experience and I enjoyed reading about her trip to Mecca for Hajj. It is very hard to believe that women in this day and age have to put up with so much. I am glad things have changed for the better, but there is so much more to be done.
This was a Kindle book and some of the words were cut, but that's how it is. It was still easy to see what was meant.
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19 people found this helpful
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Dr. Lee D. Carlson
A ra'y of light on the women of Saudi Arabia
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2008
Format: Paperback
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Even in a land where one cannot experience the pungent aroma of freshly mowed grass and where the desiccation of religious oppression matches the aridity of its climate, one can still find a ra'y of individual reasoning and integrity that sets itself apart from the rigidity of historical and legal tradition. This book, written by a medical doctor who resided and practiced medicine for a short time in Saudi Arabia, is a good example of this. Written in a spirit of both rebellion and detached analysis, the author does not arrest the flow of her words when she conveys to the reader what it is like to live in Saudi Arabia, or in what she calls the "land of invisible women."
One feels an overpowering sense of claustrophobia when reading this book. It is as if the legal and religious institutions of Saudi Arabia, entrenched in the author's opinion in the Islamic doctrine of Wahabiism, close in on its citizens, boxing them up and putting them under the pitiful guise of the "Mutawaeen" (the state-appointed religious police). She refers to the Kingdom as a prison, and if her experience is common, this designation seems all too accurate.
Interesting though is that there are many parallels of Saudi society with Western society, many of these being brought out inadvertently by the author. Western society still has to a large degree an excess of veneration towards leaders and hierarchies, i.e. a "deep loyalty for royalty" as the author describes one Saudi woman's attitude in the book. In addition, money seems to trump rational judgment in both societies, and both are dominated by the lust for admiration by those who possess wealth. And both Saudi and Western societies are polluted by religion, the only difference here being one of blatant expression in the Saudi kingdom versus a subtle but irritating presence in the West. Religion has an appreciable gravitational pull in both societies.
The author still managed to practice medicine during her time there, this taking place in spite of the cultural weights that were placed on her. In this respect one wonders if in the final analysis that being a good physician is in any way affected by the cultural norms of Saudi society. It seems as if her abilities to heal remained unaffected by her "invisibility." Certainly the patients she healed did not view her as invisible.
But after reading about the legislated male supremacy, the "turbocharged testosterone", and the frequently ignored violence against women, one can only conclude that there is something awry in the Saudi male psyche. Why do they need these oppressive legal institutions? Do they make their chances of securing a woman more probable? If these institutions went away, would they be able to attract the attentions of free and independent Saudi women, full of "joie de vivre"? Would such women intimidate them? Do they cloak themselves in law and religion and their women in abbayahs to mask their insecurities? In this regard, a better title of this book would be "In The Land of Insecure Men."
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William A. Beckerley
The Kingdom of Contradictions
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2012
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The Land of the Invisible Women is a personal memoir and of Saudi Arabia as seen through the eyes and firsthand experiences of an exceptionally intelligent, worldly Pakistani Muslim women physician. Qanta Ahmed was raised and educated in the west. After the end of the term of a working visa in the United States she entered into a 2 year contract with the Saudi Government to work at the very modern and respected National Guard Hospital.
The West seems to prefer to see the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a caricature. Its realities are unfamiliar and to many, simply unbelievable. The Land of the Invisible Women by Dr. Qanta A. Ahmed, MD is the best recent, lucid and very readable depiction of the dichotomy and contradictions of Saudi culture. It is told without malice and with some sympathy, respect and understanding for many individual Saudis. Never-the-less the culture she portrays is that of a culture cannibalizing itself, but remains hopeful. In 'The Land of the Invisible Women' - Ahmed provides the reader with a two year Odyssey of the Saudi culture including a contemporary inside gaze at the mysteries and wonders of the Hajji. In her position at the Saudi Arabian National Guard Hospital she is able to view the lives of both the extremely wealthy and the desperate poor, of doctors, patients, administrators and servants. Dr. Ahmed provides a wealth of detail and of insight especially as to the plight of the women, children and of the mass of the poor immigrant workers in the Kingdom. Ahmed is a master of the English language and of prose. This is a memoir to savor and to read slowly. It is a fascinating and spell binding read. Keep your Webster or Oxford dictionary handy.
Suggested reading regarding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia- 'Paramedic to the Prince' by Patrick Notstine. Fictional reading suggestions are 'Finding Nouf' by Zoe Ferraris and 'City of Veils' also by Zoe Ferraris.
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4 people found this helpful
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Douglas Black
Intentionally limited in scope, and a good read
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2011
Format: Paperback
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I found I enjoyed this book more towards the middle and end than at the beginning. The writing style is sometimes abrupt and at others overly verbose/metaphorical. It took me a good 50 to 100 pages to stop fighting the sentence structure but beneath the grammar and syntax is an important story. We get to explore the landscape of Saudi Arabia with a westernized woman, who offers personal accounts her years spent practicing medicine in a country not normally open to female doctors - without a heavy handed approach to political and religious values. Quanta Ahmed has a delicate balance in her writing - it would be very easy to simply portray all aspects of Saudi culture as negative to western audiences (such as the niqab, mutaween, class system) and feed into a lot of the stereotypes already rampant in society. But instead she offers insight and discourse into _why_ these systems are in place. She never condones the behavior, only explains it. This type of reasoning indicates to me an experienced and mature writer. There's so many aspects of culture we like to paint in black and white, oversimplifying problems and not addressing the true causes. I found Ahmed's accounts of Saudi Arabia both informative and enlightening, and have re-thought some of my own views of the nation.
Last, without a doubt my favorite part of the book was her record of the Hajj pilgrimage, something I knew the basics of from reading the Qur'an and other biographies (but only the very basics). reading her account made me want to see the Kaaba for myself, and experience the togetherness of that many people united under shared values. Unfortunately, as a non Muslim my chances of being there in person are slim (and I wouldn't want to take the place of a practicing Muslim anyway), but I'm glad I was able to take the trip vicariously through Ahmed's book.
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Caterina
It was a fascinating book, making it possible to ...
Reviewed in Canada on March 7, 2016
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It was a fascinating book, making it possible to view a country's culture in a way that I never could have access to. Glory to all women who struggle for their independence and strength
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Adriana
Adriana
Reviewed in Spain on January 21, 2016
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Interesante trayectoria personal de una musulmana "occidentalizada" al corazón de la religión y los cambios que sufre en el proceso.
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Sahir
Recommended
Reviewed in India on August 2, 2026
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Heartwarming to read
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Kathleen landsman
exactly as I would have imagined - no maybe not!
Reviewed in Australia on January 29, 2022
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A very well written and interesting book
I always wondered how it must be living in UAE as a western woman but I think more challenging than anticipated. Somehow visiting is nowhere the same as living there long term!,
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Just my opinion!
An inspiring eye-opening read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2014
Format: Paperback
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From the moment I opened this book I was completely absorbed and found it very difficult to put it down. The author takes us into the unknown and utterly alien (To us westerners) world of life for a working woman in Saudi Arabia. Not only does this book cover her experiences of working in Arabia, it also takes us on the extremely personal journey of her own religious spirituality and gives us an insight into the inner workings of Islam. The book is wonderful... You laugh and you cry, your jaw will fall open and you will find yourself gobsmacked at the young men in their fast cars and at the self centeredness (is that a word? It is now) of their lives, and then heartbroken at the loss of a colleague's child on a busy road. I could spend hours explaining the many nuances of the difficulties faced by both men and women in the Kingdom. The author has left herself wide open to another book or maybe even as many as three. I for one would have loved to have read more about the patients she helped and the simple ordinary women she met. This is one of those books you hate to finish! More Please Dr Ahmed and soon!
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In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom

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It was a fascinating book, making it possible to ...

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exactly as I would have imagined - no maybe not!

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