Inside the Kingdom

By: Carmen bin Ladin

Narrated by: Shohreh Aghdashloo

Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

On September 11, 2001, Carmen bin Ladin heard the news that the Twin Towers had been struck. She instinctively knew that her brother-in-law was involved in these horrifying acts of terrorism, and her heart went out to America. She also knew that her life and the lives of her daughters would never be the same again.

In 1974, Carmen, half-Swiss and half-Persian, married into the bin Ladin family. She was young and in love, an independent European woman about to join a complex clan and a culture she neither knew nor understood. In Saudi Arabia, she was forbidden to leave her home without the head-to-toe black abaya that completely covered her. Her face could never be seen by a man outside the family. And according to Saudi law, her husband could divorce her at will, without any kind of court procedure, and take her children away from her forever.

Carmen was an outsider among the bin Ladin wives, their closets full of haute couture dresses, their rights so restricted that they could not go outside their homes, not even to cross the street, without a chaperone. The author takes us inside the hearts and minds of these women, always at the mercy of the husbands who totally control their lives, and always convinced that their religion and culture are superior to any other. And as Carmen tells of her struggle to save her marriage and raise her daughters to be freethinking young women, she describes this family's ties to the Saudi royal family and introduces us to the ever loyal bin Ladin brothers, including one particular brother-in-law she was to encounter: Osama.

In 1988, in Switzerland, Carmen bin Ladin separated from her husband and began one of her toughest battles: to gain the custody of her three daughters. Now, with her candid memoir, she dares to pull off the veils that conceal one of the most powerful, secretive, and repressive countries in the world, and the bin Ladin family's role within it.

©2004 Carmen Bin Ladin (P)2004 Time Warner AudioBooks

Critic Reviews

"The gravity of the events Carmen writes of, her insider's perspective, and her engaging style make this memoir a page-turner." (Publishers Weekly)

Self-absorbed and tedious

After "reading" two wonderful first-hand accounts of life in the Middle East -- Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi, and Naked in Baghdad, by Anne Garrels -- I was looking forward to getting an insider's view of Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, this felt more like the work of an author who wanted to capitalize on her (in)famous last name and in the process, throw some zingers at her ex-husband and his family after a bitter divorce. The fact that women in Saudi Arabia have to wear veils and can't interact with men to whom they aren't related isn't news; neither is the fact that Saudi society isn't friendly to women, Christians, or Westerners. And after hearing all through the book about the extravagant lifestyle she and her husband lived -- hobnobbing with foreign diplomats, putting in tennis courts at their private compound, haute couture wardrobes, chartered jets, European vacations, etc. -- it sounds absurd when she finally gets around to mentioning the Saudi royal family (near the end of the book) and expresses horror at their "decadent lifestyle". If you want an Arabic version of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", this is the book for you, but if you're looking for insight into Middle Eastern culture, you won't find much of it here.

19 of 20 people found this review helpful

An inside view of the Saudi women's life

Carmen provides a personal and informative account of her life. This book is about a Saudi mother and her children, her love of a Bin Laden, and life behind the veil of Saudi women.
If you want to understand "why they hate us", this will help. Osama is not the focus of this book. The sewing of the seeds of hate for America and the Saudi internal pressures and mind-set are well presented.

27 of 29 people found this review helpful

Not what I expeected

I have read many books on this subject, this was my least favorite.Monotone voice, and poor writing.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A decidedly western take on an eastern culture

The most likable think about this book is Carmen, the protagonist. She is sincere and her shock over 911, she is a deeply devoted mother, and seemingly a fun, outspoken woman with commitment to a gender equality, freedom of thought; basically humanitarian. On the flipside though, I find it very concerning, the way in which she others Saudi culture. It makes sense that she doesn’t like living in Saudi Arabia, a much stricter, more fundamentalist society than the one she grew up in. But much of the book is given over to her criticizing everything about it, whether it be the behavior of the other women, her husband’s House, or the ubiquitous sandstorms. My guess is that there are some truths about the Culture of Saudi women that can be gleaned from reading this book, but at the same time, the book is hard to read because Carmen doesn’t reflect on how it is that she so quickly jumped into a life in Saudi Arabia without thinking ahead about well she could be happy there, and doesn’t seem to give the culture a chance. It is as if she assumes that we will be shocked and outraged by even the most basic of Saudi customs just because we are mostly Westerners reading this. I fear that we are not give an insight into why Osama bin Laden did what he did, but only very negative perspective of the culture from which he arose, a culture which, even Carmen says, found his extreme religiosity shocking and didn’t welcome him as a leader. As for the writing it’s… Average two. There is virtually no scene and no dialogue, and some redundancy here and there. If you choose to read this book, I would say just pick up what you can about Saudi Arabia culture, but be very, very careful about not being drawn into the level of subjectivity with which the story is told. This book serves to divide east and west, not create a bridge between them, and this is worrisome.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Inside the Bin Ladin family.

The life of Carmen bin Ladin. What life is like for women in Saudi Arabia. New insights into the culture of the Bedouin that are the Royal family of Saudi Arabia during the 1970 - 2000. The beginnings of more restrictive Moslems beliefs fostered by Osama Bin Ladin and some radical Imams' seeking political power instead of religionists beliefs. The lives of women have been enslaved by men who are seeking power not equality for all humans or love and forgiveness.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Excellent

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. What a revealing book about the "nothingness" and forced subservience of women in the Middle East. For a country, in this day and age, to treat women as though they were not worthy of anything absolutely appalls me. I am so glad Carmen bin Laden and her daughters escaped such a horrible life.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Pretty close, but not everyone agrees...

Carmen has done an excellent job of presenting her story. This is a pretty good look into the restrictive society in Sauida Arabia. However, having lived in Saudi Arabia myself for 6 years, I can say that many Saudi women LOVE their lives. I think it is extremely dangerous for Americans to view any lifestyle unlike their own as somehow bad or less valuable. As an American woman in Saudi Arabia, I was startled to find that American women are pittied by many well educated, worldly, well traveled Saudi women. Pittied, you say? They think it sad that American women are forced to work outside the home, do their own housework and laundry, taxi the kids back and forth to school and extracurriculars, and don't have chauffers. Carmen had many of her freedoms curtailed in that rigidly Islamic society, but as one very wise Saudi pointed out to me: "American women cannot walk safely alone at night in any American city. They are kidnapped, raped and murdered. You pay a very high price for your 'freedom'." Food for thought?

20 of 28 people found this review helpful

interesting

a very interesting story, good insight into the culture and struggles of West versus Islam

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

An inside look at the kingdom.

A searing inside view if the Saudi kingdom. This memoir confirmed much of what I'd heard and hoped was not true. She was able to get out and keep her children. My heart aches for those women who couldn't.

I am saudi and here is what I think.

Her story was way long back and for me I cannot recall that saudi has been this way as she described. She clearly had so much hate towards the country and I can understand why. She wrote about the country based on how she saw it. However, everybody I met that are on her age say that saudi was very simple and people loved and cared for each other and life was very joyful. Nowadays, saudi is not very different from any other country. Women are allowed to drive and we have concerts and cinemas. Nevertheless, despite all that. Women her age now still say that they miss the old saudi... Saudi is a very safe place for women where they can walk freely and feel safe. They are respected everywhere they go.

I was born and raised in saudi until the age of 18 then i have moved to the US for 3 years and then moved to dubai. However, I still love saudi and I feel that it’s a really great place to live in.