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

The average rating for Unveiled: How an American Woman Found Her Way Through Politics, Love, and Obedience in the Middle East based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-03-31 00:00:00 Kelly Kaiser **Book club members, beware of spoilers!*** I was so grateful when this stupid, spoiled American couldn't choose when to see her kids becuase something finally happened to her. It made the 130 pages of crap I had to read beforehand mean something. But then I continued to be disappointed. Two of the biggest problems in the Middle East are its treatment of women and its reliance on nepotism. She was dumb enough to let her children be taken to Palestine and hadn't bothered to educate herself on her (lack of) rights, especially in family law. But then, she relies on nepotism to secure a job, talk to elite Palestinian women (an oxymoron?), and eventually calls on her US cabinet minister cousin (Donna Shalala) to get her kids out when the intifada starts. Obviously the nepotism didn't bother her. I would like to know more about her father, mostly because I want to know more about the unregulated insurance he did time for and how much of that money went to support his jet-setting brat. It was hard to feel sorry for her when her resources were cut off by his prison sentence. However, I don't want to be too negative here. I did get some things out of this book, which are leads on books about Suha Arafat (wife of Yasar), Raymonda Tamil (Suha's mom), and Toujan al-Faisal (Jordanian activist and almost convicted apostate). Along with The Caged Virgin and The Nine Parts of Desire and A Thousand Splendid Suns, they might make a more compelling statement about women in Islam and why they need to rebel. Also, I'd like to give the author credit for not making her kids part of a tit-for-tat battle with their father. She was very atuned to politics of divorce and did a great favor to her children by not dragging them into such a mire.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-12-18 00:00:00 Maria Armand I could not put this book down. It is about an American woman who marries a charming but controlling high powered Middle East diplomat she meets at the UN. He eventually becomes Arafat's senior advisor and she lives behind the scenes in very interesting political circles. There are intimate stories of world leaders that would be hard to find anywhere else, She eventiually divorces and her father who is as grandiose and narcissistic as her husband goes on trial for a white collar crime and she loses everything. But she begins to emerge from the control of these powerful men and her journey is beautifully honest and inspirirng. She contacts the wives of Arab leaders she had known during her marriage thought were very courageous. She travels to the Middle East to record their stories and learn more about them. They reveal their lives to her,I won't tell you what happens while she is there but she faces her challanges with grace and strength and she learns about her her own power through the visits she has with these First Ladies and Queens. Wonder story,