Desert Royal

byJean Sasson

Readers of Princess Sultana's bestselling memoir, Princess , were gripped by her revelations about life of unimaginable privilege and wealth inside the royal family of Saudi Arabia, as well as her powerful indictment of human rights abuses in her country against women of all social strata. In Desert Royal she continues her story, at a period of crisis in her own life and that of her family. The forced marriage of her niece to a cruel and depraved older man, and her discovery of the harem of sex slaves kept by a cousin, makes her more deterrmined than ever to fight the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia. Princess Sultana's cause is given an extra sense of urgency against the background of increased dissent against the Al Sa'uds, and the looming spectre of Islamic fundamentalism. But an extended family 'camping' trip in the desert brings the luxury-loving Sultana and her relatives closer to their nomadic roots, and gives her the strength to carry on the fight for women's rights in all Muslim countries.