`Haunting and often mesmerising...a powerful and moving expose of the horrors that women and children can be exposed to by the tenets of faith. It ought to reach a wider audience.' Philip Womack, New Humanist; `A feminist fantasy narrative that disturbs its readers not only because it painfully reminds them of the brutal oppression of women, but also because it undermines a complex of constructions that feminists for almost two decades now have been announcing as "masculinist."' The International Fiction Review; `New favourite book...Nawal taught me how to love women and see them as strong. I do not know why it took a book to do that for me.' Lisa Grab Review;'At a time when nobody else was talking, [El Saadawi] spoke the unspeakable.' Margaret Atwood; 'The leading spokeswoman on the status of women in the Arab world' The Guardian; 'El Saadawi writes with directness and passion' New York Times; 'A poignant and brave writer' Marie Claire; 'El Saadawi has come to embody the trials of Arab feminism' San Francisco Chronicle