My life as I lived it - Thuraya Al-Turki

This enjoyable book gathers the lively and unconventional memories of the life of Dr. Thuraya bint Muhammad Al-Sulaiman Al-Brahim Al-Turki, the first Saudi woman specializing in anthropology, and one of the first Saudi women to obtain a PhD. The author says: "I have not encountered in my life anything related to me that has received unanimous support from my friends and colleagues quite like the insistence on me to document my life experience, which they saw — thank God — as something worth telling, hoping it may inspire new generations of women in the Arabian Peninsula. I, along with my peers, fought battles after battles for rights that are now considered obvious, against a societal culture based on certain interpretations of religious texts, which stood as an impenetrable barrier to women's education, work, and participation in public life in our society. I presented what happened in my life as it was, in areas I claim others would think ten times before engaging in, and I strived to maintain the highest levels of honesty in this book. I presented myself as I am, without embellishment or 'touch-ups.' Perhaps the secret behind this relative honesty is that I am a scholar, and I am always haunted by the idea of objectivity, even against myself as much as I can. Although the experience is personal, it is intertwined with social change in the Kingdom through my person, my family, and perhaps my entire generation." Number of pages: 248