Excellent book for anyone interested in the middle east.
From the back cover:
Beautiful, courageous and controversial, Jehan Sadat was the wife of Egypt's President Anwar Sadat - a woman at the turbulent center of an ancient land. Now she tells the compelling story of her romance at age fifteen with the thirty-year-old penniless revolutionary, and their adventurous life together as Anwar Sadat rose from war hero to popular leader to ruler of Egypt.
At his side, she braved the deadly political sandstorms of rumor, treachery and treason. And in a world dominated by men and torn by violence, she defied tradition to become the first wife of a Muslim leader to have her picture in the newspaper, travel outside her country and battle for women's rights and education. Opposed by powerful fanatics, she reformed Egypt's cruel divorce laws - and supported her husband's dangerous quest for peace in the Middle East. When Anwar Sadat made his historic journey to Jerusalem and Muslim fundamentalists plotted against him, she feared every day for his life.
From the first heady days of Egypt's liberation to the tragedy of Anwar Sadat's assassination, "A Woman of Egypt" is the passionate, heartfelt story of Jehan Sadat - patriot, feminist, wife, mother - a true heroine of our times.
Beautiful, courageous and controversial, Jehan Sadat was the wife of Egypt's President Anwar Sadat - a woman at the turbulent center of an ancient land. Now she tells the compelling story of her romance at age fifteen with the thirty-year-old penniless revolutionary, and their adventurous life together as Anwar Sadat rose from war hero to popular leader to ruler of Egypt.
At his side, she braved the deadly political sandstorms of rumor, treachery and treason. And in a world dominated by men and torn by violence, she defied tradition to become the first wife of a Muslim leader to have her picture in the newspaper, travel outside her country and battle for women's rights and education. Opposed by powerful fanatics, she reformed Egypt's cruel divorce laws - and supported her husband's dangerous quest for peace in the Middle East. When Anwar Sadat made his historic journey to Jerusalem and Muslim fundamentalists plotted against him, she feared every day for his life.
From the first heady days of Egypt's liberation to the tragedy of Anwar Sadat's assassination, "A Woman of Egypt" is the passionate, heartfelt story of Jehan Sadat - patriot, feminist, wife, mother - a true heroine of our times.
