In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom

What a wonderful book!

I found "In the Land of Invisible Women" absolutely compelling reading. The perspectives of a woman who is a physician, a world traveler, and also deeply religious allowed me views of Saudi Arabia and its women that were intense and memorable. I expect that men readers would find this just as interesting as women readers. As a physician, Dr. Ahmed gives a scientist's-eye-view of life in the Kingdom. As a woman who speaks fluent Arabic, she was welcome in the inner circles of other women and could provide a rich picture of these women's lives and interests as well as their views of the difficulties they face as women in such a stern, difficult society. As a sincere woman of faith, she took me vicariously on her own spiritual journey that, as a non-Muslim, I can never experience directly but as another woman of faith I can relate to intensely. I LOVED this book and recommend it with great enthusiasm.

12 out of 17 people found this review helpful.

Great Book for the Everyday Reader and for Anyone Interested in Arab Cultural Issues

As a practicing American Muslim woman, I am oftentimes skeptical of commentary on the lives of Muslim women, or of Muslims in general. Dr. Qanta Ahmed's eye-opening memoir helped ease some of my concerns on such commentary. I had only known of Arab women's lives from a distance - through television and radio media. Dr. Ahmed's book exposed an intimate look at what it means, for a practicing Muslim woman, to live as a Muslim woman in Saudi Arabia. It is, as is often portrayed, a tough life for Saudi women. Yet the society as a whole is not to blame - this is the genius of the book.

So many times you will hear Muslims saying "Muslims are to blame, not Islam" - Dr. Ahmed proved it in this book through the Saudi men and women themselves. She is able to portray Saudi's as an enlightened, patriotic, religious, and progressive people who are struggling to rid the shackles of some decadent societal norms.

Another point to consider is that the author is a British born, now American based, physician who is also a Muslim. Dr. Ahmed's narrative is itself proof of not only the possibility, but plausibility of loving co-existence between the West and the Muslim world.

I hear the book is being translated - I really can't say I'm surprised!

10 out of 14 people found this review helpful.

Great Insight

Thought provoking. Great for learning and understanding women behind the veil without westernized biased filters.

8 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

Good Read

The story of Dr. Ahmed's journey was both fascinating and frustrating. Through her beautiful writing and strong spiritual perspective I learned a lot about Islam. At the same time the culture of Saudi Arabia angered me immensely. Its a country I enjoy reading about but could never live in. It is a book that brings forth conflicting feelings and inspires much thought.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Dr. Ahmed shares, with humor and humility, her life-changing experience in Saudi Arabia...all in captivating fashion.

My best friend and I each purchased this book for our next book club discussion. We each had our own reasons for choosing it - she, because she is staunchly feminist and the title and concept appealed to her; I, because of my intense pull to broaden my cultural horizons. Dr. Ahmed's writing style pulled me in, capturing and holding my attention, as I read about her life-changing decision to practice medicine in the Kingdom. I felt her fury and contempt for the rampant bigotry that exist(ed) during her years there, the anxiousness and butterflies associated with a forbidden school-girl-like crush, and the admiration for the many strong, supportive men and women who fought in their own ways for equality (be it in the ICU, a public restaurant, or by the Ka'aba during Hajj). I am notorious for starting a book and leaving it for weeks or months (yes, at times even years) before returning to finish it, but her vivid style had me turning page after page until, a mere 5 days after starting it, I finished the last sentence. This is truly a captivating piece of literature!

7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

fascinating

This is a first-person account by Dr. Qanta Ahmed, a female Muslim physician. She spent two years practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia and offers a fascinating view into Saudi society and culture. Agreat read!

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

A New Insight

One of the best books I have read! I really enjoyed reading about Qanta's experiences while she was in the Kingdom. She really didnt hold anything back. I got a new insight on what women experience in Saudi Arabia, and its not necessarily what you would expect.
I would defeinetly recommend it!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended!

This book was wonderful. It was a fun and easy read, but also managed to be insightful and educational. I felt like I got a good personal look into the lives of women in the Kingdom. Well worth the low $7.99 eBook price!!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Horrible

This book is too enrichlng

2 out of 14 people found this review helpful.

Very informative; worth reading.

The author surprised me with her spiritual openness and descriptions of the difficulties of living a "double life" in male-dominated Saudi Arabia. At first, I struggled to connect with her. But her hajj is fascinating, and I was hooked after that! Reading the book in a post-9/11 world helped me learn about that far-away land with it's old-world society.

Wonder-ful.

Compassionate, observant, intelligent, an insider and outsider simultaneously, Dr. Ahmed has written a thought-provoking book about some of her experiences as a western-raised Muslim woman and US-trained scientist working in Saudi Arabia. She explains some of the political-religious background of the country, shows the varying opinions of the people she came to know, and tells it all as a good story. She describes her own spiritual journey also as a story to be explained to outsiders, not as an intellectual process, but as an emotional encounter with faith.

Highly Recommended

A good look behind the veil. If you've always wondered what it would be like to be invisible but don't want to travel to other cultures in order to understand this type of society then this book is a must read.

For those who want to learn more about other cultures

I love these kinds of books, we live in such an open society that it is interesting to me to see those who are so controlled by the men of their countrys. How these women can live under such barbaric rules and be thought of so little by the men of their country is indeed foreign to us who live in a country where women are treated almost as equals as men, except for maybe in the workplace, is so sad. I love to read these kinds of books. And these women have my sympathy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book at the same time I was appalled at how they are treated.

Fascinating read

I learned so much about the religious right of Saudi Arabia and the challenges faced by an American woman who, as a Muslim, thought she would understand the culture. I fist thought it would be more about the practice of medicine but it is so much more than that. Loved the book. Dr. Ahmed is an excellent story teller.

Very good read

As a healthcare worker it was interesting to read about how how healthcare could be so forward in Saudi Arabia, but women's independence could be so far behind.

I couldn't wait to hear more of Qanta's adventures and relationships while in the Kingdom.

Great read

Very interesting perspective. It was great to experience Saudi Arabia from Dr. Ahmed's vantage point. At times, a bit wordy, but overall, an enjoyable read.

Fascinating

First person perspective of a professional woman living and working in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s with observations on changes that she observed during visits after 9/11 2001).

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not what I expected--but not bad

I thought this was going to be a more medical book, with anecdotes about treating patients and what were common and unusual ailments in Saudi Arabia. Instead it was about a Muslim woman living in America who goes to Saudi Arabia as a doctor. The book is really about the women's culture(s) in that country and how the experience deepened the author's Islamic faith.

Good Inside Look

This is a good book for anyone interested in life behind the scenes for women in Saudi Arabia. I did get lost sometimes with so many colleagues, and would have liked to read what the author's family and friends thought during her time there. But overall, very interesting and well worth reading. Good education for those of us who are not Muslim as well.

Culture shock, even from someone who thought she knew what she was getting in to.

This book has become somewhat dated as womens freedoms have improved since her stint in the Riyadh hospital but one wonders how much personal attitudes have changed and how much was imposed from the outside. The more interesting parts of this narrative came from the idea that as a darker skinned Muslim doctor, the author apparently thought she would fit in to this culture with more ease than most American Expats. However it appears that her gender and her origins (Pakistani American) significantly overpowered this, and even her more liberal coworkers had significant biases. THe writing is a bit choppy and at times vicious (for instance in the way she describes the physical attributes of people she has less respect for or who have less social standing) which made the book harder to read. But the vignettes are revealing, of the authors admitted weaknesses and those of the people around her. The profound anti Semitism of some of her associates, even after years on fellowship to American and Canadian medical facilities where they worked and socialized with much admired Jewish professors and medical staff was shocking, as was the celebration of the fall of the Two Towers on 9/11 by female OBGyns. Worth reading, but a book by someone who is from the area might be better if you have to choose.