My life as I lived it: memories of a Saudi woman from Unayzah to California

This interesting book gathers the lively and unconventional memories of the life of Dr. Thuraya bint Muhammad Al-Suliman Al-Breim Turkish, 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 the consensus of my friends and colleagues similar to the insistence on me to document my life experience, which they saw – thank God – as worth telling, in the hope that 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 engagement in public life in society. I presented what happened in my life as it happened, and in areas I claim others would think ten times before entering. I strived to keep the level of honesty at its highest in this book. I presented myself as I am, without embellishment or 'touch-ups.' Perhaps the secret behind that 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. And 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