An eloquent and candid portrait of a region, a monarch and his young American wife.
by - Written: Jun 13 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: A modern love story with a fascinating historical background.Funny, moving and always interesting.
Cons: I can't think of any.
The Bottom Line: Anyone interested in the Middle East should read this book. Queen Noor's autobiography is candid, funny and moving, and she writes in a fluid and easy to read style.
Leprof's Full Review: Queen Noor - Leap Of Faith: Memoirs Of An Unexpect...
"Leap of Faith": Memoirs of an Unexpected Life, by Queen Noor of Jordan. Miramax Books, $25.95, 440 pages.
Imagine being a modern, young American woman, a graduate from the first freshman class of women at Princeton, with a degree in architecture and urban planning. Imagine travelling all over the world, working, being independent and self-sufficient. Imagine meeting the ruler of a desert kingdom, falling in love and marrying him. Sounds like a fairy tale? It's the true story of Lisa Halaby, who grew up in Santa Monica, California, New York and Washington D.C. and married the king of Jordan, a direct descendant of the prophet Muhammed. He chose her new name and she became Noor al Hussein, Light of Hussein.
The Queen's autobiography is honest and candid, sometimes funny and often touching. Her account of his majesty's illness and death brought tears to my eyes.
Hers is an unusual voice: an American who took the trouble to learn about the Middle East and who recounts the history of the area, of the royal family and of the recent Israelo-Palestinian problems from an Arab point of view.
She openly discusses her parents' divorce as well as her own marital problems. But the love and understanding she shared with the late king allowed them to come through the difficult times, the political as well as the personal ones.
The King was in a difficult position, caught between Israel and the rest of the Arab world, always weighing the welfare of his people and of his country against the pressures of his allies, the machinations of his enemies, and the survival of the monarchy while still trying to maintain as normal a family life as it is possible for a monarch to have.
Hussein tried hard to remain a loyal friend and ally to the United States, even when he disagreed with their foreign policy regarding Israel. He tried hard to broker a lasting peace in the area, without forgetting the plight of the countless Palestinian refugees, many of whom lived in his kingdom. That is why he considered the Camp David accords, and the peace between Egypt and Israel, a catastrophe. He knew that any peace treaty that did not take into consideration the return of the occupied territories and the fate of the Palestinians would only inflame the rest of the Arabs.
Although of Arabic descent, Lisa Halaby did not know much about either the Arab world or Islam before marrying Hussein. She entered wholeheartedly into his life, adopting his country and his people, his customs and traditions, his family and his religion. Hussein already had eight children from three former wives before he married her. They had five more together. Today, one of his sons from his second wife, is the king. He and his wife Rania are, like Hussein and Noor before them, fighting to change the laws ruling "honor" killings.
In Jordan, as in many other Muslim countries, a father, brother, husband or son has the right to kill any woman of his family who has brought them dishonor without fear of legal reprisal. The cause could be something as simple as talking to a man outside the family circle or leaving the house without permission. Conservative elements in the Parliament have blocked the initiatives time and again.
Many aspects of life in the Arab world, even as a queen, must have been hard for the woman who had grown up in the America of the sixties, who had joined student organizations and marched in protest for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam.
This is a fascinating book on many levels: the political and historical background of Jordan and the Middle East; the relationship between world leaders and how world affairs affects their friendship; the contrast between life in the refugee camps and the royal palace, and the love story between Hussein and Noor. The Queen addresses all of that in her eloquent and candid style, describing her role as queen, wife, and mother. A fascinating and easy read.
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