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In the early 1970s, Nawal El Saadawi lost her job as the Director of Health Education and Editor-in-Chief of Health magazine because she did something really horrible: She wrote a book about women and sex.

GASP.

She turned to the research of neuroses in Egyptian women which led her to meet a doctor at an Egyptian prison who would talk to her about his experiences and some of the inmates. Through this friendship with the doctor, she met Firdaus, a woman imprisoned for killing a man. Firdaus was awaiting execution when Saadawi had an opportunity to meet and talk with her, to get the story directly from the inmate's mouth.

The result turned into this slim novel based on what Firdaus told Saadawi.

Understandably, there was not a lot of time between their meeting and the execution of Firdaus, but my biggest complaint about this novel is just how unemotional the connection appears to be. My theory is that this has more to do with the novelization of the story Firdaus told her, as opposed to writing a biography, or marketing this story as nonfiction. Or, even as Truman Capote did once upon a time - through creative nonfiction or whatever else you want to call it.

Because this book is considered straight up fiction, it fails as a whole because it reads without feeling. I feel if this wasn't based on a true story, readers would like this book less than they do. I'm in the minority with my rating; everyone else has given this 4 or 5 stars (of my own little circle of peeps). If we go by subject matter alone, I 100% agree. The life Firdaus led and how she was essentially set up for failure as a female from the moment of birth. This is not an uncommon story, and the fact this was written in the 1970s shows just long how a lot of this bullshit has been going on around the world.

But I never connected to Firdaus or her story. I am not one of those readers that needs to be able to connect emotionally, but in this case, considering the story behind the story, I felt it was a missed opportunity to make a significant impact.

Aside from the writing itself, this book covers a lot of important situations that continue to be relevant in the 21st century such as male dominance, power struggles, female genital mutilation, class, and prostitution. It's not always an easy read because Firdaus is explicit and unwavering in her explanations. She does not regret what she has done, nor should she. When we look at her life, who can blame her?

I might have snapped sooner than she did.

Also, to those out there who dislike this book because it's a diatribe against men, or speaks poorly about the character of all men, I am judging each and every one of you. You obviously haven't been paying attention to anything.

How many were the years of my life that went by before my body, and my self became really mine, to do with them as I wished? How many were the years of my life that were lost before I tore my body and my self away from the people who held me in their grasp since the very first day?
(p68)