Customer Reviews

Mirage

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the first of Ms Soheir Khashoggi's books, which I have read, and it was superb. Set in the fictitious Arabian country of Al-Remal, it tells the story of a girl, born into wealth and privilege in a prominent Arabian family. She lives in a gilded cage, in a land where growing oil wealth and opulence co-exist with archaic traditions and barbaric misogynistic practices.

The book opens with an introduction to Jenna Sorrel, a renowned Harvard-educated psychologist living in Boston, Massachusetts. She is forcibly taken away by men masquerading as immigration officers onto an aircraft: presumably back to Al-Remal, where her sadistic husband Prince Ali has been searching for her whereabouts for several years.

It is then revealed that in a former life, Jenna was known as Amira Badir, a girl who was sold into marriage to a member of the ruling Al-Rashad family. Despite living a glamorous jet-set lifestyle and being surrounded by lavish wealth, Amira endures increasing brutality from her husband, and is stifled by the oppressive environment imposed upon many Arab women, both rich and poor. Eventually, she flees with her baby to the United States to begin a new life. However, the threat of being found by her influential husband, reaching out for her with "arms a billion dollars long", is never far behind.

I have deducted a star merely due to the inconsistent quality of writing: most of the time, it sparkles like a diamond, but occasionally there are colloquial lapses in the narration, which tarnish its lustre. Personally, I feel that there should be increased awareness of this book, although it may be banned in certain countries. Whilst it has been in circulation for several years, I only stumbled upon it recently on Amazon UK's website. It is an excellent first novel by Ms Khashoggi.

Sohair, kept me on the edge of my seat, it was a real thriller. Being a "Remali" mayself I share her view about how women live in this society. although she does paint an image in a shade of black darker than the way I view the society that I have lived in all my life. I liked how she related the unfairness twards women in the west to the conditions in the east. How violence againest women could be viewed as a worldwide phenomina. this book is deffinetly worth reading for anyone who is remotly interested in the middle east, it paints an image of the upper strata of society inaccessable to most, I can only imagine that it is an accurate one.

Khashoggi dedicates her debut novel to the memories of two women who 'inspired me to write about the special bonds that exist between women in other places and other times.' Yet her story of a woman's flight from an abusive husband and a culture which sanctions brutality in the name of Islam, contains almost no evidence of female support for female victims.

The story opens with a prologue introducing psychologist and successful author of a book on battered women, Jenna Sorrel, a woman living a lie and in mortal fear of exposure. The prologue concludes with the realization of her terror as she is confronted with her real name - Amira Badir -abducted from her apartment, drugged and loaded onto a private jet.

The first chapter jumps back in time to the late 1960s. Amira, a child of privilege and wealth in the desert kingdom of Al-Remal, conspires with a peasant midwife to spirit the child of Amira's best friend, an adulteress, and Amira's brother (who is not exposed) out of the condemned woman's prison cell. This act is perhaps the only instance of women risking themselves for another woman. It does not, of course, save the mother, who is stoned to death the following day. 'To Amira's horror, the women were the fiercest executioners, screaming curses as they threw, then scurrying to grab another stone.'

With subterfuge and money, Amira's brother, Malik, is able to set himself and his child up abroad but Amira understands that, though she may be clothed in the finest fabrics, she will never have the option of choice. Not permitted to go to school, she is educated by a governess, a privilege since most girls receive no education at all.

And when she is caught dancing alone to her father's radio, he orders her into the veil, the abeyya, that all women must wear, even though she is still a child. Her mother pleads for her but when her husband insists she silences her daughter's tears, saying, 'Do you dare dispute your father?' Later her father takes a second, younger, wife. The other women in the house console Amira's mother, then scold her for her continuing depression, then condemn her to isolation.

The lives of the women revolve entirely around their men - even in their homes they are restricted to the 'women's country.' Not that life is without pleasure. Lavish sex-segregated entertainments are occasions for gossip and food and shedding the veil to show off foreign fashions to one another.

Amira's wedding to Ali, a royal prince, occasions lavish entertaining and from the beginning handsome Ali showers her with sumptuous presents of jewels and clothes. But much more wonderful to Amira are their foreign travels and Ali'sencouragement of her intellectual life. Abroad she does not wear the veil and is invited to social occasions which include men. And once she has a son she has more than almost any other woman in Al-Remal. Except for her husband's gambling and drinking, life is good.

But after the birth of her son, her husband seems to avoid her. His occasional sexual interest can only be satisfied by pain. There is, of course, no one she can discuss his increasing brutality with. And when he almost kills her the whole palace conspires to call it an accident - caused by her own willful disobedience. Escape seems impossible, death inevitable.

Kashoggi is not a scintillating writer but the drama and glamor of her story carries the reader along. Besides the plight of her heroine, the author threads several subplots and themes through the narrative - her brother's lifelong feud with Ali, and the secrets of his life with his daughter, Amira's involvement with battered women in America and her difficulties as a single mother, the loneliness of isolation from family.

And the setting is wonderfully exotic with a fully realized portrayal of the lives of the fabulously rich, spoiled and decadent oil royalty juxtaposed to the stifling luxury of their women behind their veils.

I read the book and loved it, the writing is great and I couldnt leave the book aside at all.
However, I wish if the writer didnt exagerate in her writings about the life behind the viel. I am an arab, muslim woman and I insist that life overhere is not as bad as what was weitten. If people are looking to see how arab women are living, please come and check it out. Not all arab countries are like "AL-RIMAL"!!
I know that when people write books, the need to make it intresting so people would read them, but the real life is not like that at all :)

I just completed this book. It is THE best book i have read yet. I am actually in tears now. It was so moving, so real. i felt every laugh and every tear. By simply turning the pages i was there in Al-Remal, under a veil, being sold into marriage and leaving the country of my origin behind. I am almost afriad to pick up another book out of fear that it will not be as good as this one or maybe out of fear that it will be as good as this one, so good that i am once again dragged along an amazing yet dreadful emotional rollercoaster. I am only 16 yet i appreciate the extraordinary work that mrs. khashoggi has created and i would like to thank her from the bottom of my heart. please continue your soul touching work.

The story is one you cannot put down, but if you are reading it to learn about Muslim women and men following Islamic law this is not the book. Althougth abuse of women does happen in the Muslim world, it is a product of patriarchal culture not Islam. For one Islam forbids a father to force his daughter to marry someone she does not want to and Islam lays out strict punishment for those who beat their wives. Khashoggi tells a story you can't stop reading until you reach the end, that is a thoroughly entertaining portrait of the way some Arab men deny Arab women the rights given to them by the Islamic religion.

I bought "Mirage" several months ago and was stunned. It was the only book I ever read in one night, until I was in London and found her new book "Nadia's Song". Each book kept me on the edge of my seat hoping it would never end. "Mirage", as well as "Nadia's Song", take you into fascinating worlds of song and dreams. They are both must reads and I advise anyone who reads this review to take advantage of such splendid story-telling...

This book will take any reader through a catharsis of emotions. As a young American-Lebanese woman, I am extremely interested in learning about the Middle Eastern culture. This book moved me and I would definately recommend it for anyone interested in learning or anyone who just wants to be on the edge of their seat for a thrilling ride.

Being an pakistani and born in Saudia Arabia i was always interested in this type of stuff true or not about all the men in the Middle east its a great book.

This is one of the best books I have ever read, from the first page I could not put it down. Soheir Khashoggi has made me live in that amazing story, I can only say that it is a masterpiece, a book you have to read. I can easily keep reading it over and over. I hope she will be having another book out soon, I can't wait.