From the Publisher
A harrowing account of a Saudi woman’s triumph over oppression. . . . Mohammed creates a tense narrative of her desperate flight, the efforts of her powerful father to stop her, and the determined journalist who came to her aid.” — Kirkus Reviews
“I read each page with my heart firmly in my mouth. In stunning detail, Rebel takes you inside the real-life, dystopic world of the Saudi Kingdom, where men, and even boys, can control nearly every aspect of a woman’s life, from her birth until her death. This is the astonishing story of how one incredibly courageous teenager took on Saudi Arabia’s archaic male guardianship system and won! An inspiring read that will leave you shaking with fury, and then cheering in solidarity.” — Sophie McNeill, Human Rights Watch, author of We Can’t Say We Didn’t Know
“Rebel makes it clear that the cultural honor/shame dynamic and the male guardianship system continue to weigh heavily on the daily lives of Saudi women and their moral universe, through a complex mixture of psychological, cultural and religious elements. Rahaf ultimately fled the Kingdom, under cover of darkness by the skin of her teeth, in order to spread her wings. Saudi women deserve better, safer options for their future.” — Ayaan Hirsi Ali, founder, AHA Foundation; research fellow, Hoover Institution; author of Infidel and Prey
“Mohammed, who garnered international headlines as a teenager in 2019 when she fled Saudi Arabia and was detained by authorities in Thailand, recounts her daring path to liberation in this potent debut. . . . Her scorching indictment serves as a beacon for women worldwide yearning for freedom.” — Publishers Weekly
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Rebel makes it clear that the cultural honor/shame dynamic and the male guardianship system continue to weigh heavily on the daily lives of Saudi women and their moral universe, through a complex mixture of psychological, cultural and religious elements. Rahaf ultimately fled the Kingdom, under cover of darkness by the skin of her teeth, in order to spread her wings. Saudi women deserve better, safer options for their future.
Sophie McNeill
I read each page with my heart firmly in my mouth. In stunning detail, Rebel takes you inside the real-life, dystopic world of the Saudi Kingdom, where men, and even boys, can control nearly every aspect of a woman’s life, from her birth until her death. This is the astonishing story of how one incredibly courageous teenager took on Saudi Arabia’s archaic male guardianship system and won! An inspiring read that will leave you shaking with fury, and then cheering in solidarity.
Kirkus Reviews
2022-03-07
A harrowing account of a Saudi woman’s triumph over oppression.
In a stark memoir related in shocking detail to Canadian journalist and human rights activist Armstrong, Mohammed recounts growing up under Saudi Arabia’s repressive male guardianship system in which “legally, a woman is a nullity.” Raised in an elite Sunni family, she was taught the severely puritanical Wahhabi version of Islam, “a strict, harsh, unforgiving and repressive doctrine driven by coercion and fear.” When she was 7, her mother warned her she must always be quiet, submissive, and pious; from the age of 9, she had to wear an abaya, a loose, shapeless, black garment that covered her whole body; and at 12, she had to add a niqab, a mask that exposes only the eyes. “Going outside without my niqab covering my face was an offence that called for severe punishment,” she writes, “and that’s what they delivered to me with fists and kicks and slaps.” She could do nothing, and go nowhere, without her father’s or brothers’ permission. Even at a medical appointment, “when the doctor would ask me questions about why I was there or what was wrong, my father or my brother would answer and explain to him what I was feeling.” A rebellious young woman, Mohammed boldly questioned her teachers, enjoined her younger brother to accompany her to the homes of more liberal relatives, and stealthily managed to circumvent some restrictions: She first had sex with a girl when she was 12; and later with a boy whom she smuggled into her huge, multiroom house. She watched films and read forbidden books on her phone. Longing for freedom, she found an online network of Saudi women runaways who helped her plan an escape. Mohammed creates a tense narrative of her desperate flight, the efforts of her powerful father to stop her, and the determined journalist who came to her aid.
An absorbing chronicle of courage.
