A ferociously intimate memoir by a devout woman from a modest family in Saudi Arabia who became the unexpected leader of the courageous movement that won Saudi women the right to drive.
Manal al-Sharif grew up in Mecca the second daughter of a taxi driver, born the year strict fundamentalism took hold. In her adolescence, she was a religious radical, melting her brother's boy band cassettes in the oven because music was haram: forbidden by Islamic law. But what a difference an education can make. By her twenties Manal was a computer security engineer, one of few women working in a desert compound built to resemble suburban America. That's when the Saudi kingdom's contradictions became too much to bear: she was labeled a slut for chatting with male colleagues, her school-age brother chaperoned her on a business trip, and while she kept a car in the garage, she was forbidden from driving on Saudi streets.
Manal al-Sharif's memoir is an account of the making of an accidental activist, a vivid story of a young Muslim woman who stood up to a kingdom of men-and won.
"A brave, extraordinary, heartbreakingly personal story of one woman's battle for equal rights.... The book provides a rare glimpse into... the hearts and minds of people who live in a society that is mostly off-limits to Westerners. [Al-Sharif's] literary achievement is that despite the huge cultural differences, Daring to Drive shows that Saudi women and men have dreams and fears much like our o
Associated Press
"Future generations will marvel at Manal al-Sharif, whose voice is laden with quiet dignity even at its most urgent. Her gripping account of homegrown courage will speak to the fighter in all of us."
Deborah Feldman, New York Times bestselling author of Unorthodox
