Read of the Month (March 2019)

I thought choosing a book each month would be difficult as I have so many I am happy to suggest.  So far it has been straightforward.  Obligingly my Reads of the Month seem to tie in with current events or happenings. 

This is also so for my March selection which offers a different perspective of;

•  a country, 
• "the War on Terror"
•  international affairs.   

Sounds heavy going but it is not.

The March Read of the Month is.......................................



 The Veiled Kingdom 
by 
Carmen Bin Ladin







Auto-biographies are not my favourite genre and this is unequivocally an auto-biography.

Carmen Bin Ladin, a Swiss national, is the sister-in-law of the notorious Osama Bin Laden.  The book recounts her meeting and marriage to his younger brother Yeslam; her life in Saudi Arabia and her reasons for moving to the US with her two daughters.

The book is not especially well written but I found the content so mesmerizing this did not matter unduly.

It gives an insight into a world which I have very little experience of but which occupies many column inches in the Western press.

It made me really thankful that as a woman I live in the "West".

I felt distinctly uncomfortable at the hypocrisy of the men who were quite happy to indulge in the freedoms the "West" allowed them but then were so autocratic in their countries.

It also made me reassess the countries of the Middle East and our relationship with them, especially Saudi Arabia.  It has also made me think seriously about holidaying in these places.  Dubai may have skyscrapers and be modern but has it really changed?  Food for thought.

What do you think? 

I would end with"Enjoy".  I'm not sure this is a book one enjoys.