Cheryl P. reviewed Insights into the Bin Ladin family on 7/3/2009 + 22 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Carmen Bin Ladin's account of her 1974 marriage into the Bin Laden family. I couldn't put this book down until I finished it. It provides insights into the Saudi Arabian culture with its archaic beliefs about women. Carmen was a young European woman who fancied herself in love, but was forced to join a culture that she did not understand. Forced to never be seen by a man outside of the family, she was unable to leave her home without the head-to-toe black abaya that would completely obliterated her female form and face. She became part of a culture completely ruled by men and found her life controlled beyond endurance. As her marriage fell apart, she found herself questioning what sort of life she wanted for her daughters in the future and this dictates much of her future actions.

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