Woman at Point Zero

by Nawal El Saadawi, Miriam Cooke (Foreword by), Sherif Hetata (Translator)

Overview

Nawal El Saadawi’s highly acclaimed feminist novel, Woman at Point Zero, follows the life of Firdaus, an Egyptian peasant girl, from her childhood of incomprehensible cruelty and neglect to her end in a grimy Cairo prison cell. From her earliest memories, Firdaus suffered at the hands of men—first her abusive father, then her violent, much older husband, to finally her deceitful boyfriend-turned-pimp. After a lifetime of abuse, she at last takes drastic action against the males ruling her life. Still as beautiful and cutting as it was when it was first published, this new edition will continue to resonate powerfully with readers for years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783605941
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/15/2015
Edition description:	New edition
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	97,841
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Nawal El Saadawi is a renowned Egyptian writer, novelist, and activist. She has published over forty books, which have been translated into over thirty languages.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Miriam Cooke
Author's Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Editorial Reviews

"An unforgettable, unmissable book for the new global feminist."

London Times

I think her life has been one long death threat. At a time when nobody else was talking, she spoke the unspeakable” —Margaret Atwood

“Nawal El Saadawi writes with directness and passion, transforming the systematic brutalisation of peasants and of women in to powerful allegory” —New York Times

“This book will look you dead in the eye… I thoroughly recommend this book because it will make you examine the ways in which people in impossible situations can retain dignity and control over themselves. Read it wide-eyed” —Books By Broads

“The most influential feminist thinker in the Arab world over the past half-century.” —Financial Times

“El Saadawi has a flair for melodrama and mystery” —International Jourbanal of Middle East Studies

“A powerful indictment of the treatment of women in many parts of the Middle East, Labour Herald Woman at Point Zero should begin the long march towards a realistic and sympathetic portrayal of Arab women” —Middle East International

“Scorching” —New Internationalist

“Simple, but sharp and infuriating... Woman at Point Zero is the story of one Arab woman, but it reads as if it is every woman's life” —Spare Rib

“An unforgettable, unmissable book for the new global feminist” —The Times

“This novella opened my eyes to the ideas of power structures” —Ailah Ahmed, Stylist

“This extraordinary novel, written with such compassion, forces us to the edge, and deep inside what must be one of the worst tales of women's oppression while somehow managing to inspire hope, if only through the courage of Nawal El Saadawi for being one of the first to tell this story to the world” —Jacqueline Rose

“Leaves an indelible mark. This is a tale of injustice, inequality and sheer bad luck - written with such grace and skill as to be on a part with the finest literature of this or any era - haunting, poetic and fiercely relevant” —Scott Pack, The Friday Project

From the Publisher

"An unforgettable, unmissable book for the new global feminist."

London Times