Leap of Faith [Hardcover]

Queen Noor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2003

Born into a distinguished Arab-American family and raised amid privilege, Lisa Halaby was in the first co-educational freshman class at Princeton, graduating in 1974 with a degree in architecture and urban planning. Then, in 1976, she was introduced, on an airport runway, to King Hussein of Jordan, a direct descendent of the prophet Muhammed. In less than two years, she was his wife, Noor al-Hussein, Queen of Jordan. With eloquence and candour, Noor talks frankly of the many challenges of her life as wife and partner to the monarch, providing both an intimate portrait of the late King Hussein and his quest for peace in the Middle East, and a moving account of the demands his public role as a world statesman placed on the royal couple's private life. Sharing a personal perspective on the past three decades of world history, Leap of Faith highlights Queen Noor's views on Islam and the West; the challenges of rearing her family; her work as Queen and humanitarian activist; and her struggles to protect her husband as he slipped into the illness that would kill him in 1999. Her story is filled with recollections of the world's most powerful and interesting people: Queen Elisabeth, Jimmy Carter, Pierre Trudeau, Yassar Arafat and Anwar Sadat. In the wake of September 11, Noor reflects on the true message of Islam and the ongoing violence in the Middle East from her unique perspective with a deep and abiding understanding of Arab aspirations and history. Leap of Faith is refreshingly candid and clear-eyed, a true love story set against the turbulent politics of the last thirty years.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The serial for this has now finished, with an excellent interview in the DAILY TELEGRAPH magazine and the extracts running daily in the paper.Second serial went to THE SCOTSMAN. A large interview with several pages of glossy pics also ran in the April issue of HARPERS AND QUEEN. Queen Noor visited the UK on 6-8 April and our publicity plans included an appearance in conversation with Ion Trewin at the Cheltenham Festival on Sunday 6 April. Nearly 1,000 people turned out for this event, Hammicks sold all their pre-signed stock. We followed this with an interview with the Press Assocation which will be syndicated to all regional press and broadcast media interviews which will include Woman's Hour (BBC Radio 4) to air on Wednesday 9 April, BBC Breakfast (BBC1) to air on Tuesday 8 April - this has also been syndicated to BBC News Online, BBC World, BBC News 24 - and Simon Mayo (BBC Radio 5) to air on Tuesday 8 April. We also arranged an informal stock signing at Hatchards Piccadilly on Tuesday 8 April and Her Majesty signed 350 books in one hour for them. We also have a limited number of booksplates for Methvens in Windsor, Waterstones in Harrods, Hatchards, Telesales and anyother key outlets. Following Her Majesty's visit, diary stories have also run in EVENING STANDARD, DAILY MAIL, DAILY EXPRESS, INDEPENDENT, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, THE TIMES and THE SUN. And after all our hard work and negotiation, Her Majesty Queen Noor's trip to the Hay Festival on Bank Holiday Monday was a success. All the helicopter, car and securityarrangements went very smoothly, and the event itself, an "In conversation with" with Geordie Greig, Editor of Tatler, was a sell out with over 1,100 tickets sold and was received very well. Most importantly I think we sold a goodnumber of copies - Pemberton Books can't yet let me have exact numbers, but I'm hoping to have final figures shortly. Queen Noor also kindly did an interview for us on the Don McClean Show on BBC Radio 2's Good Morning Sunday Programme in London. The show is transmitted every Sunday morning between 0700 - 0900 hrs and has 2.5 million listeners. Her Majesty has now returned to the US and we have now received a wonderful review in THE GUARDIAN: "An engaging and inspiring book... Leap of Faith is the story of her remarkable journey into Hussein's heart, and their 21 years of marriage, ending with the King's death in 1999... As well as being an intimate portrait of marriage, Leap of Faith reflects a deep commitment to the people, culture, and natural beauty of Jordan... It also sheds a great deal of light on inter-Arab relations and on the diplomacy surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict."THE GUARDIAN

About the Author

With sons educated in England (one trained as a soldier at Sandhurst), Queen Noor spends a third of the year here, partly in Knightsbridge and partly in Ascot. She keeps a high profile and will promote her book here on publication.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 406 pages
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; First Edition edition (March 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0297646648
• ISBN-13: 978-0297646648
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,915,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > History > Middle East > Jordan

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Official View of My Life as Queen Noor, April 30, 2008

By 

Terri J. Rice "ricepaper" (WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Leap of Faith (Paperback)

Leap of Faith is interesting from the young all American becomes Queen standpoint. It really is amazing that a fairly regular young American woman gains the attention of the King of Jordan and becomes Queen.

It is too bad she was not willing to be more real in her telling of a great story. Queen Noor seems way too aware that she is writing her memoir and wants her memoir written in a contrived way. She wants it written the way she wants you to remember and never mind reality.

The book ends up preaching about Queen Noor's view of the political world and quickly becomes tiresome and boring.

It could have been a very exciting story given her exciting life but she had to go preach to us instead.