Cinderella in Arabia: A Cross-cultural Autobiography: Amazon.co.uk: Monika al-Amahani: Books

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7 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
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4.0 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful and moving real-life story!, 25 Jan 2002

By A Customer

This is an amazing story about an Austrian girl drawn into a cross-cultural marriage. Married for many years to an Arab in Kuwait, she was deprived of human rights and suffered cruel treatment and prejudice in a world incompatible with her Western values. Cinderella in Arabia is a serious critique of Gulf Arab society, revealing the devastating crunches the author has so triumphantly survived in her intercultural marriage.
Moving from adolescent dreams under the spires of Oxford to the incestuous, corrupt, and filthy-rich milieus of modern Kuwait, this book tears away the veil of hypocrisy, misunderstanding, and myth which shrouds the contemporary Middle East. Forget about political correctness. This is a true story that takes you into the heart of 'wastaland,' where whom you know gets you where you want to be, where haute couture garments rub shoulders with the spirit of the Middle Ages and where women are still bought and sold and consigned to a life of obedience . . . or else! Step into the land of oil . . . and the riches it brings . . . and prepare to be shocked by what you learn.

You may want to compare this book with PRINCESS by Jean P Sasson, who claims to portray the real life story of a Saudi Arabian princess whose life story is uncannily similar to Monika's true-life story, based on personal experience and genuine events. Monika's story is not deliverately sensationalist but strikes at the heart of the matter and makes, in my opinion, a much more meaningful blow in favor of women's rights. Why? Because it is sincere and truthful. Read it and see.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No comparison to Sasson's Princess books, 5 Dec 2002

By A Customer

I read this book to see how similar it was to Sasson's Princess books. The common themes were (1)women are oppressed in Arabic countries, and (2) mothers-in-law are jealous of their daughters-in-law. Other than that, the books are quite different. "Cinderella" relates horrible tales of oppression at the hands of her in-laws and husband throughout the entire book, unlike Princess Sultana's short run-in with her mother-in-law which resolves early in the book. Cinderella's distaste for Arabs in general colors much of the book, and her high opinion of herself is at times embarrassing (unlike Sultana's frequent self-criticism). Cinderella relates her experiences from the viewpoint of a middle-class freeborn woman. She is not afraid of hard work (cleaning up her inlaws' filthy residence, starting a restaurant), unlike Princess Sultana who doesn't cook or clean--she has servants at her beck and call. The Cinderella book is long and full of fantastic tales of abuse that go on and on until you don't see how anyone could take so much abuse without losing their mind.

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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly written and in my opinion a waste of money, 13 Mar 2003

By	Ware used Books "wareusedbooks" (Ware) - See all my reviews

I bought this book, despite the relatively high cost, because I was interested in the subject matter and the fact that it was autobiographical. However, I was extremely disappointed with the style of writing. Although autobiographical the book is written as though a person other than Monika wrote it. Monika, the author, states herself as 'Monika' thoughout the text instead of referring to herself as 'I'. Furthermore, Monika seems to have an extremely high opinion of herself, labelling herself as 'our heroine Monika' in the book, which in itself is very offputting. I found the style of writing so bad that it was actually difficult to read and concentrate on the topic of the book. In the end I gave up and did not bother to finish this book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars JEAN SASSON NEVER KNEW A SAUDI ARABIAN PRINCESS, NOR DID SHE HAVE A DIARY OF A SAUDI ARABIAN PRINCESS!
IT IS A FACT THAT: JEAN SASSON HAS USED MONIKA AL AMAHANI'S/ AL ADSANIS "CINDERELLA IN ARABIA" MANUESCRIPT FROM WHICH BLATANT HOAXER JEAN SASSON WROTE HER THREE FAKE "PRINCESS"... Read more

Published 12 days ago by Mrs. F. M. Pavlik

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is worth its money.
What an insight into this filthy rich jet so very poor Arabic society of Kuwait.Monika is not the best writer of all,but she sure told us a good true life-story. Read more

Published on 8 May 2003 by leonard fox

4.0 out of 5 stars Full of surprises
This book was/is a sad,but true life adventure of a European female in the Gulf State of Kuwait. I would rather have done away with myself than go through such an ordeal in a... Read more

Published on 17 Jan 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended to all females.
Now and then a book such as this apears, causes a stir and leaves its mark.The author dedicated her lifestory to " WOMAN" And I absolutely agree with her. Read more

Published on 28 Feb 2002

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Cinderella in Arabia: A Cross-cultural Autobiography (Paperback)

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