Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist, 1879-1924 [Paperback]

Huda Shaarawi (Author), Margot Badran (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1987 | ISBN-10: 0935312706 | ISBN-13: 978-0935312706

   In this rare first-hand account of the private world of a Cairo harem during the years before Egypt declared independence in 1922, Shaarawi recalls her childhood and early adult life in the seclusion of an upper-class Egyptian household, including her marriage at age thirteen. Her subsequent separation from her husband gave her time for an extended formal education, as well as an unexpected taste of independence and a critical understanding of the price of confinement. Shaarawi's feminist activism grew along with her involvement in Egypt's nationalist struggle and culminated in 1923 in a daring act of defiance,when she publicly removed her veil in a Cairo railroad station.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shaarawi, an early leader of Egypt's feminist movement, was the daughter of an upper-class Egyptian and a Turkish Circassian woman. Raised in a haremthat area of homes where the women and children in wealthier families were secludedShaarawi observed bitterly that her younger brother was treated better and taught more than she. At age 13 she was married, against her wishes, to an older cousin who already had a family by a "slave-concubine," with whom he continued to live at intervals during his marriage. In addition to noting such injustices, Shaarawi also offers a touching account of growing up in the Middle East at the turn of the century and of the peopleparticularly European women living in Egypt and Egyptian women educated in Europewho helped her to develop a vision of a more just society. Badran's epilogue, quoting extensively from Shaarawi's narrative, covers the stirring struggle for independence from Britain and the beginnings of a women's movement in Egypt following World War I.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English, Arabic (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY (1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0935312706
• ISBN-13: 978-0935312706
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #250,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for those interested in Egypt or Mid-East Feminism, September 17, 2007

By 

S. T. Sullivan "law student, culture vulture,... (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist, 1879-1924 (Paperback)

Huda Shaarawi lead a pretty amazing life. She started out life in the harem of her father, and ended it being a feminist and a nationalist hero. This isn't a particularly well written book, but when you lead a life that was intertwined with so many world events, your memoir doesn't have to be well written to be engaging.

I could recount the narrative here for you, how she got an education in the harem from other women, how the harem wasn't only a place of repression but was also a place of empowerment, how she was interested in European culture from an early age but really you should just read it for yourself.