Customer Reviews

Disfigured: A Saudi Woman's Story of Triumph Over Violence

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You may have seen her picture splashed on many of the major news channels. Rania Al-Baz's story of her abuse in a Muslim country unfolded in a very public way when she was beaten and left for dead. The public uproar was felt all over the world. You may have even caught her on 60 Minutes or the Oprah Winfrey show as she speaks up for women's ability to choose their own destiny. In the book, Disfigured: A Saudi Woman's Story of Triumph over Violence, you will feel as if you are living the fast paced story that is so much better than what you may or may not have seen in TV and news journal coverage.

From the very first pages, I was absorbed by the story of one woman's very difficult life in the desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In a land where every aspect of a woman's life is ruled by men, Rania becomes a symbol and well loved public face to the Muslim people as they struggle to overcome the stigma of a backwards society. As a TV journalist, she is one of the first Saudi women to show her face in a public format. A face that, once beautiful, has become disfigured through abuse and will require many surgeries to return to some semblance of normal.

As a child, she is ruled by a father who is very much "old school." For a Muslim, that means little or no education, arranged marriage plans and a very cloistered life. She is groomed to care for a household, maintain strict religious beliefs and bear children, preferably males--that's it. After she was forced into a divorce from her first husband, Rania tried to accept her life and find her place in the world. She loves her people and her country and embraces her religion. In her second marriage, the temper of an increasingly jealous and obsessive husband finally explodes in an episode that leaves her battered, near death and severely disfigured. With the help of a Princess and unheard of support from the Saudi ruling classes, Rania finds a new reason to live and come back fighting as a supporter of women's rights and spokesperson for abused women. With a stern resolve to protect her children from the stigma of a criminal for a father, she even stands up to the courts to show her forgiveness to the cruel man who left her for dead.

This is not a story of male dominated Muslim repression, but instead a brave recounting of the struggles women must face, in any culture, against abuse, divorce, child custody battles and being downtrodden. Rania has proven that despite living under the veil with strict societal and religious restrictions, Muslim women can be a source of inspiration to women everywhere.

by Rhonda Esakov
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

This is definitely a "page turner." I cannot imagine human beings in any culture treating prisoners the way these women were treated. As I read this true story, I hurt along with the women. She were tortured mentally and physically beyond anything you could imagine. The women were raped and sodomized in front of groups of prisoners and in many disgusting ways. Food and water was held from them for days at a time. She never did not know why she was imprisoned from the beginning, but felt certain her husband was in on the plot to abuse her.

It seems that many men have no respect for women in their culture. They apparently turn ugly in the flash of a minute. They are con artist of the highest order. Even in marriage they are scheming and planning ways to manipulate their wife only to satisfy their own needs. They take the freedom to come and go from home without any explanation of their whereabouts.

The only way I could finish the book was knowing that the woman had survived. I do know that she was strong, and with the help of a fellow woman prisoner was able to save her own life.

This book was certainly a page turner. It was hard to put down once I began reading it. It was a real eye opener about the abuse that is suffered by muslim women. How muslim women are not their own person but owned by their father or husband and must receive their permission to do many everyday things that Western women take for granted.
It is an excellent vivid presentation of life in the real world and how one woman was willing to literally risk own life to let the outside world know what goes on behind closed doors. This is a must read.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading of this young woman's tale of survival, forgiveness, hope, strength, and purpose. Although harmed by the very person who was to protect her, she made it a point to help other women and to examine the life that led her to that point. She describes her childhood, her inner thoughts of the prospects of marriage at a young age, and the details of an oppressive lonely marriage.

The only thing that irritated me about this read is her denial of how much Islam influences this type of behavior among men. Women are under male domination and leadership throughout their entire lives. This enables and encourages fallen men to abuse women and sometimes it is justified by the ancient texts. Furthermore, the Qur'an does permit a man to lay a finger on a woman, even if its a last resort.

Since religion is the foundation of a Muslim's world, one has to question and suspect it to be problematic when so many marriages and families are destroyed due to violence and apathy.

This is a book you won't easily forget. The author clearly portrays the brutality she experienced and how that drove her to become a spokesperson against this form on abuse. It's a true story, but reads as easily as a novel.

I like this book very much. The reading goes very quickly because it is so interesting. I am gaining much insight into the life of a woman in Saudi Arabia.

Violence against women is a serious problem throughout the world, so I do not take the attack by her husband lightly. However, I found her to be a self-centered person who refused to take responsibility for her own decisions. And unlike many women in that country, she was allowed to make many of the decisions that profoundly impacted her life. When the decisions proved to be poor decisions, then it was always someone else's fault. Considering few Saudia Arbian middle class women were given the opportunities to live the life she had, she made poor choices and refused to take responsibility for her poor choices. Her decisions were not well thought out and were made only for the shock value to her family. If you want to prove yourself as a responsible person and generate more respect for women in that country, then making spiteful decisions is a poor way to gain rights and freedom for women. To be such a sad topic, I wasn't that moved by her story.

Very good read. Having lived in the Kingdom for eight years, understood completely what the author was writing about. A very brave woman indeed.