Cinderella in Arabia: A Cross-Cultural Autobiography [Paperback]

Monika al-Amahani (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2001

Moving from adolescent dreams under the spires of Oxford to the incestuous, corrupt, and filthy-rich milieus of modern Kuwait, this book tears away the veil of hypocrisy, misunderstanding, and myth which shrouds the contemporary Middle East. Forget about political correctness. This is a true story that takes you into the heart of wastaland, where whom you know gets you where you want to be, where haute couture garments rub shoulders with the spirit of the Middle Ages and where women are still bought and sold and consigned to a life of obedience or else!Step into the land of oil and the riches it brings and prepare to be shocked by what you learn.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cinderella in Kuwait is an autobiography that exposes the tensions of intercultural marriage. Monika, as a naive young Austrian student, believed she was marrying a Muslim Prince Charming and found herself welded to, persecuted by, and entangled with the whole of his family and culture. Her sometimes tragic, often ludicrous, but constantly volatile lifestyle drove her to the fringes of human despair as spells thickened the air, her businesses burnt down, and infidelity reared its ugly head?again and again.

Product Details

• Paperback: 532 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (November 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595201164
• ISBN-13: 978-0595201167
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,987,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shocking Accusation, January 27, 2005

By 

Katie S "Katie" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cinderella in Arabia: A Cross-Cultural Autobiography (Paperback)

This is Katie. I'm an English girl and I have read two of Jean Sasson's books. (Princess and Daughters of Arabia) and while I admired the heroine, Princess Sultana, I was so depressed after reading the second in the series that I would not read the third. After reading these two books, I borrowed Cinderella in Arabia from a friend who once lived in Kuwait. I read the book with interest and felt badly for the "heroine Monika," but really, I couldn't admire her--she is a bit too abrasive and angry tempered for me. I would have thought she would have met one decent Kuwaiti in all the years of living in Kuwait, but according to this book, every Kuwaiti is less than human, so obviously she did not meet an admirable Kuwaiti, which is shocking, just on the face of it. After reading the book, I came to this site to express my opinion and encourage the writer Monika to rethink her hatred of Kuwaitis as the world has enough hatred without a writer hating the father and family of her own children. Then I read the honey kitty review of 04 29 10 and was intrigued by the accusation against Mrs. Sasson, since I had read two of that author's works. Over a course of several weeks I did some research. This is a report of my findings for the sake of honey kitty who I now know is obviously repeating rumors without shaking a leg to do research. Tragically, it appears that the author of Cinderella might well be delusional. She is the person who is responsible for endless lawsuits and accusations. She is the person who sued Mrs. Sasson. The final court records show that the judge (or jury) can't remember which, fined the author of Cinderella in Arabia for bringing a frivolous lawsuit to the courts. After reading the document, I researched the archives of several newspapers and I discovered that The Guardian ran a piece where Mrs. Al-Amahani (aka Adsani) claimed that not only did Mrs. Sasson steal from her but that Deborah Moggach, an English writer of fiction, also stole from her. When researching I found that Mrs. Adsani and one of her sons had sued the Kuwaiti Government and then sued the British Government (unsuccessfully both times from what I could find)
What am I to make of this? From my research, it seems that Mrs. Sasson was not sued by anyone but Mrs. Adsani. Since the Princess books are still selling, it would appear that no one has won a court case against Ms. Sasson or she would no longer be published. I also found other print documents where newspapers and or magazines shamefully printed accusations voiced by Mrs. Adsani without doing research to see if the accusations had any basis in fact. It appeared that the pieces were written long before the case was heard by the courts, before the accusations were found to be false, and the author Sasson was completely cleared. Quite clearly what honey kitty wrote is simply untrue. Add to my findings that the author of Cinderella appeared to hate everyone in her world, from her in-laws to her husband, to other people she met. Something serious is wrong when a person cannot find one redeeming quality in anyone around them.
In case you are curious, I am a research clerk in judicial chambers, and I have knowledge of how to find facts, rather than rumor, and I am passing on the facts to the readers in order to neutralize reckless rumors that have no place in the world of the internet or anywhere else, for that matter.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Distateful, June 14, 2007

By 

P. Mumenthaler "Polyana" (Peru) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cinderella in Arabia: A Cross-Cultural Autobiography (Paperback)

It is people like Monika Adsani that should not be allowed to write, sorry, write?I dont think she can write, throughout her book all I got was hatred and a very unstable personality. I have read J. Sassons books to compare, 5 starts,thats a writer.
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK...its full of hatred, anger and self pitty. We need to unite and try to understand different cultures, not put them down so cowardly.

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Insulting to every Arab!, February 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Cinderella in Arabia: A Cross-Cultural Autobiography (Paperback)

I am Kuwaiti so I purchased this book with the idea that I would hear the story of a Western woman's adventures and enjoyment of a foreign culture. I have lived to regret it. I am now thinking in shock that any publisher would publish a book that is so racist against all Arabs... This author has insulted every living Arab. This account of a woman who only thinks of herself and considers herself a grand beauty and every Arab male a panting dog after her and every Arab woman jealous of her looks and skills and talents! While it is true that every blonde woman gets looks in the Arab world, this woman talks as though she was Miss World come to our country.

This book is nothing but a Western woman talking about nothing but how every Arab she meets is filthy and does not know how to eat or behave in public and have filthy homes that makes her sick. She talks ugly language in this book with language that a man would freeze one shocked position to hear a woman speak.

This book is a disgrace to the Arab culture and every living Arab man and woman walking the face of the earth. I do not think any person with feelings would think this is a book to be read.