Customer Reviews

Unveiled: How an American Woman Found Her Way Through Politics, Love, and Obedience in the Middle East

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...told by an gifted storyteller. Deborah tells the true story of her life as an Lebanese/American woman married into the political society of an emerging Palestinian state. Set during the height of political conflict she struggles with the new life she enters and the unexpected pitfalls she faces when she divorces her husband. Along the way we are introduced to strong women, such as Queen Dina and Mrs. Arafat, who overcame objections within their marriages and culture, and made a lasting impression within the political climate of the Arab world. This compassionate book is a must-read for those longing for a look beneath the contemporary version of the Arab world.

I recommend this book if you are looking to learn about the Middle East from a perspective that is rarely heard, while being entertained at the same time. Ms. Kanafani's experiences are fascinating and she writes with an insight and compassion that is palpable throughout. Though the book is about a woman's experiences it is by no means of limited interest to the female reader. The fascinating characters she interviews and describes, the challenges she personally faced and her unique social & cultural duality presents such a unique and refreshing perspective about a subject that many of us know so little. Such a great read I cannot recommend it highly enough.

A timely read to help appreciate events that are relevant today. A fascinating look at a culture that many, including me, don't understand fully. Highly recommended.

Debbie Kanafani writes to inform, mesmerize and provokes the reader to learn more.
I am very familiar with the culture and history of the area . I found her eyewitness account engaging. Her style flows, it is impecable and unpretentious.

It is such a human account that once I started i had to finish it. She draws the reader into living in that space geographically and hitorically.

I have recommended that book to many and all thanked me for it.

I think this book is a great read. It shows how inspiration can come from places you least expect.....the women of the Middle East that Ms. Kanafani encounters and interviews are a source of great support for her....people that were randomly placed in her life in a sense were the ones that walked her out of her internal darkness. Although a woman raised with many advantages she exhibits an emotional tenacity unknown to many.....and this is admirable. Her children are lucky to have such a resourceful mother....read it and see what I mean. She leads with compassion and her travels and marriage to a Palestinian diplomat are fascinating....a world most of us never get to glimpse.

In 1980 I married a Palestinian in the US. In 1982 I divorced him and moved to Lebanon and then Egypt and worked under Dr. Fathi Arafat in the Palestine Red Crescent. During that time, and since then, I have read much on the issue of Israel/Palestine and the culture of the Middle East. Most of what I have read has been detailed treatises, filled with historical references and research which, while excellent, I fear has been far beyond the grasp of the everyday American who yearns to understand what is a difficult issue. A few good books, honest and not sugar-coated have been written but have not made it to national prominence, until now.
Woven throughout Deborah Kanafani's story of strong minded Palestinian women and her heartbreak as a mother, is her discovery of a culture that, despite her Lebanese ancestry, is foreign to a young woman raised in the US of the 50's and 60's.
Early adventures with a jet setting prince later lead to a romance with a man who will come to yield power within an organization that is misunderstood at best and often vilified within the US. Deborah Kanafani's background and introduction to the Palestinian society were different than my own but many of our experiences and feelings were similar.
As a mother, my heart broke for a woman who shares the pain and anguish with women all over the world who have been denied being a part of their children's lives. As a woman, I felt kinship with the women who share my sense of equality and rejection of conventions created by men to support their desires. As a person who lived within the same culture, I was grateful for Ms. Kanafani's honesty about the bad...and the good, of which there is so much.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the lives of women and anyone who wants a human understanding of a society about which Americans have been permitted to learn little.

UNVEILED is the poignant story of a woman who transcends the traditional Palestinian customs that threaten her stability as wife and mother.

Childhood memories remind Deborah Kanafani of the love she had for her maternal great-grandmother, Fahimi Kirban. Fascinated by the gypsies in her native Lebanon, she had been influenced by their love for the earth and its bounty. Fahimi's serene lifestyle influences Deborah with a protective shroud, shielding her from discord at home.

Deborah's parents' marriage ends in divorce when she is six years old. Adultery, bickering and distrust are underpinnings of her youth. Her father, a successful lawyer, loves his children but displays his affection through materialism. Deborah remains convinced that he adores her, despite his strange character traits. Control is his byword, and Deborah bears the burden of his possessive personality for many years. Her mother has remarried and lives a plain but comfortable life, supporting Deborah throughout her teen years. But she yearns for recognition from her elusive flamboyant father.

In 1980 Deborah is a graduate student, traveling on the Queen Elizabeth 2 to France. She meets a Jordanian delegation on board and is invited to dine with the group. For five days she is introduced to a sumptuous lifestyle. The Jordanian prince, 10 years her senior, claims her affection, and his doctor broaches the subject of marriage to Deborah. He persists in his courtship in spite of her desire to "think it over." Deborah enjoys his grandiose standard of living but yearns for her modest one back in New York. Her exposure to the wealthy but pampered lifestyle has opened her eyes but does not lead to romance.

In her mid-20s Deborah is fascinated by global politics and moves to Washington, D.C. Upon completion of her master's thesis on Arab stereotyping in American textbooks, she accepts a job as media liaison for the National Association of Arab Americans, which is an opportunity to form global ties. She meets the director of the Arab League, a handsome Palestinian former soccer star named Marwan Kanafani. During a United Nations gathering in New York, Marwan courts her with a fanatic passion. He provides security for her and opens the door to exciting personalities in the diplomatic world he inhabits.

Deborah succumbs to his charms and agrees to marriage within six months of their first meeting. She discovers that Marwan holds two things dear --- the memory of his martyred brother, Ghassan, and his affiliation with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) --- and accepts that she will never occupy the same revered place in his affections as them. Her role as partner and wife diminishes during the Arab-Israeli conflict and subsequent formation of the Palestinian state, and Marwan becomes a chief confidant to Yasser Arafat, leader of the PLO.

Despite the birth of two children, Deborah watches her marriage dissipate. Marwan travels to the Middle East regularly while tensions with Israel increase. She feels isolation from former friends when Marwan rebuffs the contact. Finally, after a trial separation, the two agree to divorce. After the children visit him in Ramallah, Deborah travels to join them. There, horror awaits her when Islamic Law strangles her rights as mother, and Marwan refuses to release them.

Deborah's struggle to retain her maternal rights dominates the remainder of her story. In her quest for justice, she calls upon past relatives and acquaintances with knowledge of the process she must undertake.

UNVEILED is written largely as narrative, with a small portion of dialogue. Political thinking and social mores reveal a non-religious facet of Middle Eastern life missing in other biographical accounts of the region. Deborah relies on her relationships with dominant females --- including Donna Shalala and Suha Arafat --- to attain her goals. She emerges as a woman with ambition, strengthened by personal trials, who documents their stories in the process. Apolitical, UNVEILED is a human chronicle, one of strength, courage and revelation.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

As someone that has spent 15 years studying the history and culture of the Middle East (especially the Levant), I found this book quite refreshing and insightful. Unlike other books on this over studied and commonly misunderstood region, Ms Kanafani's book has no agenda other than to tell her own story. I enjoyed both the personal stories of love, loss and growth and the insights into regional politics and the personalities behind the headlines. Her writing is warm and sincere without entering the murky waters of "confessional". Her ability to get Queens, revolutionaries, politicians and diplomats to open up to her, I think demonstrates her sincerity and humanity. Perhaps the greatest impact she made on me was her ability to create happiness and stability for her children despite the incredibly unjust situation she found herself in. I do believe a person's character is revealed in the way they approach adversity. Ms Kanafani is both a bold, daring woman and a gentle soul. I highly recommend this book for those interested in human stories from the Middle East.

In her book, Ms. Kanafani speaks as a woman, a mother, a wife and a compassionate human being with a mission for peace. Her unbiased view of the Middle East is a clear lens on many aspects of a culture misunderstood by many of us. In her journey, she takes us so brilliantly to a place where her personal search and a region's quest for peace and independence commingle. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants an honest insight to the politics and lives of people of Palestine.

I've read several leading non-fiction and fiction works about life and politics in the Middle East, and I found Ms. Kanifani's book to be one of the most thought-provoking of all. Perhaps because the author was born and raised in the United States, the recounting of her experiences has a different feel than the books I've read that were authored by natives of the area. This is not said to discount these other admirable works, but just to express the thought that having the opportunity to look at a situation from many sides can lead to a deeper, fuller understanding of the issues.

Ms. Kanifani steps into that world as a foreigner who must adapt and overcome not only language and social barriers but also the dangers that any outspoken and controversial individual would attract in a highly politicized and armed environment. Along her path, Ms. Kanifani is fortunate enough to meet and study some of the most influential personages of our age.

Her refreshing and uninhibited portrayals of these world players really changed the perceptions that had been painted by the main steam media, in a sometimes completely inaccurate manner, in my mind. For this I am grateful.

Although the book starts slowly, it quickly gains a brisk momentum that holds through to the end. One is soon engulfed in danger, and starts to understand how life, even at the top of Middle East society, can suddenly become a matter of day-to-day survival. `Unvieled' is a great read that left me hungry for more - and I know that Ms. Kanifani will have yet another story to tell.