“A woman in a land ruled by ran” is the perfect description for Jean Sasson's Princes: A true story of Life behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia(publicized in 2004). The novel written by Sasson from the princess's (who goes by Sultana) diaries. Her story paints a horrifying yet beautiful picture of Saudi Life for Women. The course of the book consists of stories of her life from her first memories of her brother getting everything his heart desires. To her realizing that all Saudi men are the same-even her husband Kareem whom she used to love. This novel will have readers on the edge of their seats and their eyes glued to the page.





Though all the stories of Sultana's life are different from each other they all tell the reader the same thing- When society is so unequally balanced the lesser group (in this case women) is going to have to claw and work hard to get to the top because the group on top (men) aren't going to help and risk some of their precious power. This book shows readers that you are going to have to have to do things for yourself because there's no guarantee that anyone will help you. Readers will find themselves in tears as the horrors of the Middle East unfold before them. However readers will also find themselves laughing at Sultana's attempted rebellion. Through out the course of the book Sultana's view on Saudi men becomes worse with each wrongdoing she suffers. Although she never had a good perception of men because of how her father and brother treated her then she sees that it's not just her family. She comes to know the endless cycle that women face “ignored by their fathers, scorned by their brothers and abused by their husbands”. Almost all of the conflicts are external character vs. characters between Sultana and her brother or Sultana and her husband. However there is one internal when Sultana realizes that she has become what she feared -boring .Readers will find it hard to disagree with Sultana's views when they're so strongly asserted . Sultana is a strong brave and fiery woman whom all girls should look up to.




I would recommend this book to teenagers and adults. Though I think women would enjoy it more than men I think men would enjoy the novel too. However woman will have a more emotional response. Anyone who has ever felt inferior or has experienced working hard to accomplish goals people thought impossible would be able to relate to the story. All in all this was a superior story woven by Jean Sasson.