Jean Sasson

Jean P. Sasson (born 1947,^[1] Troy, Alabama, United States) ("Sasson" is Hebrew for "happiness"), is an American writer whose work mainly centers around women in the Middle East.

Biography

Growing up in a small town, Sasson found adventure between the pages of books. Her strong desire to uproot herself from her rural surroundings led her to jump at the opportunity to work and travel abroad. In 1978 she traveled to Saudi Arabia to work in the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh as an administrative coordinator of medical affairs.,^[2] where she met Peter Sasson, her future husband. They married in 1982 and Sasson left the hospital after four years of service, but the couple remained in Saudi Arabia until 1990.

During their time in the Middle East, the Sassons made many friends, including members of the royal Al-Saud family, who visited the hospital. The most notable of these friendships was between Sasson and "Princess Sultana", the princess about whose life The Princess Trilogy tells.

Sasson is currently based in Atlanta, Georgia.^[3]

Works

The Rape of Kuwait

978-1561291939 – Knightsbridge Pub. Co.; 1st edition (January 1991)^[4]

Sasson's first book, The Rape of Kuwait about the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, was published in 1991. It was based on interviews she conducted with Kuwaitis who had fled to Cairo, Saudi Arabia, London and Washington, D.C.^[5] The book was published before the war broke out. Advertisements in the major newspapers and on network television featured the book with the accompanying tag line: "Read it and you'll know why we're there".^[6] The Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington paid to send 200,000 copies of it to American troops in the Persian Gulf.^[7][8][9]

The Princess Trilogy

• Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

978-0967673745 – Windsor-Brooke Books, LLC (March 1, 2001)^[10]

Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, her second book, chronicles the life of Sultana, a purported Saudi princess.^[11] It claims to be a true story, detailing gender inequalities experienced by Saudi Arabian women. The identity of Sultana (a pseudonym) is concealed to assure her safety.^[11] The book remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for 13 weeks. In 1995, a lawsuit was brought against the author of the book alleging plagiarism.^[12] The lawsuit was later dismissed.^[13] The court held that the plaintiff's claim was "objectively unreasonable" and directed her to pay the defendants' legal fees.^[14]

• Princess Sultana's Daughters

978-0967673752 – Windsor-Brooke Books, LLC; 1 edition (March 1, 2001)^[15]

As second-generation members of the royal family who have benefited from Saudi oil wealth, Maha and Amani are surrounded by untold opulence and luxury from the day they were born and which they take for granted. In Princess Sultana's Daughters, Sasson exposes the stifling and unbearably restrictive lifestyle imposed on these women. They have reacted in equally desperate ways. Their stories are set against traditional Saudi Arabian culture and social mores.^[16]

• Princess Sultana's Circle

978-0967673769 – Windsor-Brooke Books, LLC (May 1, 2002)''^[17]

When Sultana's niece is forced into an arranged marriage with a cruel, depraved older man and a royal cousin's secret harem of sex slaves is revealed, Sultana's attempts at intervention in their various plights are thwarted. But when her nephews are caught committing an unspeakable act against a 12-year-old girl, Sultana is galvanized into action. Risking her personal status and wealth, she takes a stand against the complacency of her male relatives over the child's fate. Ultimately, in Princess Sultana's Circle, Sultana and her sisters vow to form a circle of support that will surround and shelter abused women and girls.^[18]

Mayada: Daughter of Iraq

978-0525948117 – Dutton Adult; First Edition (October 16, 2003)^[19]

When Mayada Al-Askari was assigned to be Jean Sasson's translator in 1998, during a trip to Baghdad, she could never have imagined where her friendship with this prominent Iraqi woman would take her. The two women kept in contact until, in 1999, Mayada was arrested by Saddam Hussein's secret police. Allegations that Mayada had been producing anti-regime pamphlets were brought forth, and she was confined in Iraq's brutal Baladiyat Prison for over a month, fated to visit the torture rooms and wait crowded cells. In cell 52, Myada was imprisoned with 17 other "shadow women" whose lives had similarly been interrupted with false allegations and hardships. Sasson tells their stories.^[20]

Love in a Torn Land

978-0470067291 – Wiley (March 5, 2007)^[21]

In this true love story, Sasson focuses on the life of a Kurdish woman living in Iraq and the broader story of ethnic tensions between the Kurds, Iraqis, Turks, Iranians, and Syrians. Joanna Al-Askari Hussain marries a freedom-fighter, and makes his fight her own, persevering through genocide campaigns, deaths of friends, and missile attacks that cause the sky to rain down the bodies of dead birds.^[22]

Growing Up bin Laden

Najwa bin Laden, who married her cousin Osama bin Laden at the age of 15, is his first wife and the mother to eleven children, seven of Osama's sons and four of his daughters. Omar bin Laden is the fourth son of Osama bin Laden. Najwa and Omar narrate details about the drama, tensions, and everyday activities of the man they knew as a husband and father. Until Omar and his mother approached Sasson, no other writer or journalist had access to this type of personal information.

Growing Up bin Laden is a book based on interviews with the wife and son of Osama bin Laden.^[12]

Yasmeena's Choice: A True Story of War, Rape, Courage and Survival

1939481147 - LDA (October 3, 2013)

YASMEENA'S CHOICE is the true story of Yasmeena, a Lebanese stewardess that was trapped in Kuwait during the Gulf War in 1990 with Iraq. Yasmeena's subsequent capture, imprisonment and repeated rape is detailed in the book. This is somewhat of a follow-up to Jean Sasson's first book, THE RAPE OF KUWAIT, but YASMEENA'S CHOICE is even more gripping and tragic and harrowing.^[23]

Controversy

There has been some controversy regarding works of this author, though ultimately the plagiarism suit filed by Friederike Monika Adsani was dismissed in court by Southern District Judge Denise Cote in 1996.^[24] Adsani's claims were declared immaterial, resulting in the district judge's decision to order Adsani to cover Sasson's attorney's fees.^[25] Adsani appealed the case in 1997, though Circuit Judges Oakes and Parker and District Judge Nickerson "affirm[ed] the order of the district court requiring Adsani to post a bond of $35,000" to cover Sasson's legal expenses.

In 2003, Sasson published her book "Mayada". This book is about the supposed account of an Iraqi woman oppressed by Saddam's regime.^[26] Gillian Whitlock in Soft Weapons, used this book as a prime example of “propaganda generated through the veiled best-seller,” which proved useful in “naturalizing aggressive military strategy as a benevolent intervention.” ^[26] During Jean Sasson’s promotional tour for the book, Whitlock added, she even personally “attested to the sight of advanced weaponry . . . in Iraq” and “assure[d] the American public that loyal Iraqis enthusiastically welcome occupying American troops as a liberating force.”^[26]

Other works

• For the Love of a Son
• Ester's Child

References

External links

• Official Website
• Interview on C-span about Growing Up Bin Laden