Las Hijas De Sultana

Readers of Princess Sultana’s extraordinary story, Princess , were gripped by her powerful indictment of women’s lives behind the veil within the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Now, Jean Sasson turns the spotlight on Sultana’s two teenage daughters, Maha and Amani. As second-generation members of the royal family who have benefited from Saudi oil wealth, Maha and Amani have never known the poverty which their grandparents experienced as children. Surrounded by untold opulence and luxury from the day they were born and which they take for granted, but stifled by the unbearably restrictive lifestyle imposed on them, they have reacted in equally desperate ways. Their dramatic and shocking stories, together with many more which concern other members of Princess Sultana’s huge family, are set against a rich backcloth of Saudi Arabian culture and social mores which are depicted with equal color and authenticity. We learn, for example, of the fascinating ritual of the world-famous annual pirlgrimage to Makkah as we accompany the princess and her family to this holiest of cities. Throughout, however, Sultana never tires of her quest to expose the injustices which her society levels against women. In her couragewious campaign to improve the lot of her own daughters of Arabia, Princess Sultana once more strikes a chord amongst all women who are lucky enough to have the freedom to speak out for themselves.