Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia

by Carmen Bin Ladin

Overview

Osama bin Laden's former sister-in-law provides a penetrating, unusually intimate look into Saudi society and the bin Laden family's role within it, as well as the treatment of Saudi women.



On September 11th, 2001, Carmen bin Ladin heard the news that the Twin Towers had been struck. She instinctively knew that her ex-brother-in-law was involved in these horrifying acts of terrorism, and her heart went out to America. She also knew that her life and the lives of her family would never be the same again. Carmen bin Ladin, half Swiss and half Persian, married into and later divorced from the bin Laden family and found herself inside a complex and vast clan, part of a society that she neither knew nor understood. Her story takes us inside the bin Laden family and one of the most powerful, secretive, and repressed kingdoms in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446694889
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	06/13/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	1,157,857
Product dimensions:	5.88(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Carmen bin Ladin, born Carmen Dufour, in Geneva, Switzerland, is a member of the bin Laden family. She was raised in Lausanne by her mother only in Switzerland with three little sisters (Salomé, Béatrice, and Magnolia). Her father is Swiss (Dufour) and her mother Persian (Mirdoht-Sheybani).

Carmen (56 years old) was married to one of Osama bin Laden's older brothers, Yeslam bin Ladin, until 1988. They were married in 1974 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She has three daughters, Wafah Dufour (born 1975), Najia (born 1978), and Noor (born 1987).

Editorial Reviews

In 1973, half-Persian, half-Swiss Carmen Dufour married Yeslam bin Laden, Osama's older brother. After a fairy-tale courtship, they married and settled in Saudi Arabia, where Carmen soon received a painful initiation into the strict gender prohibitions of Wahhabi custom. Her Inside the Kingdom not only recounts an often harrowing marriage, which ended in 1988, but also offers unique insights into the family of the world's most notorious terrorist.

Bin Ladin's story is a courageous one. To stand up as a woman and share her personal experiences and feelings, although quite subjectively, about the Bin Laden family's daily life in Saudi Arabia is surely a bold and possibly consequential act.
— USA Today

Carol Memmott

Addicted to the "I-married-the-Mob" genre? Try this variation: smart women who marry Islamic fundamentalists. In 1973, Swiss-born Carmen fell in love with Yeslam bin Ladin, Osama's older brother; after a fairy-tale courtship, including a semester together at USC, the two married in Saudi Arabia. Alas, it wasn't long before the fantasy turned sinister. By Saudi Wahhabi custom, women are usually confined to the home. Activities like listening to music or reading books other than the Koran are either sinful or shameful. Only Carmen's young daughters, occasional international trips and her dear, understanding husband helped her cope. Then, things worsened. The 1979 Saudi mobilization to support Afghan Muslims against the Soviet invasion gave religious hard-liners like Osama more clout. Carmen's husband, now a successful Geneva businessman, reverted to a more orthodox lifestyle. Finally, in 1988, Yeslam divorced Carmen, but by bringing charges against her in Saudi Arabia, made certain she feared for her life-and her daughters' freedom-if she ever again entered an Islamic country. Beyond Carmen's terrible story hovers the larger, later tragedy of 9/11. Remember, Carmen warns, the bin Laden brothers have always supported each other, financially and socially. When Osama dies, he'll certainly be replaced. The gravity of the events Carmen writes of, her insider's perspective and her engaging style make this memoir a page-turner. Photos. Agent, Susanna Lea. (July 14) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Half-Swiss and half-Persian, the author has plenty to say about former brother-in-law Osama. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Carmen Bin Laden, a Swiss-Iranian raised in Geneva, married a brother of Osama in the U.S. Upon moving to Arabia, she was appalled by Saudi culture and later took refuge in Switzerland, where her marriage broke up. She gives an insider’s look at what she describes as the suffocating, self-righteous, pathological Saudi culture, inimical to the West. A bone-headed literalism (if the author has an accent, so must the reader . . .) gives us Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo’s nar-ration, earnest but slow and painfully awkward, and corny “Middle Eastern” music. But Bin Laden’s message comes through, summed up in her reminder that the majority of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudi. W.M. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

DEC 04/JAN 05 - AudioFile