Leap Of Faith: Memoirs Of An Unexpected Life [Hardcover]

 

 

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I am also from Jordan, and know very well the political history of the region, and so regardless of whether i agree with the point of view taken in this book or not I will give it five stars because she is, after all, my homelands beloved Queen. I am however very saddened by the fact that Queen Noor, as one of the only representatives for the women of the country, does not take a more active role in creating awareness of the injustices, and atrocities committed in the kingdom to the women of the kingdom. Queen Noor, as much of the royal family, lives in a world so vastly different to that of every day life in the kingdom, for the majority of people in the kingdom. She is well aware of this fact, and also very well aware of the inequality of women in Jordanian society, and the Human Rights abuses being condoned by our government in regards to women's rights...as in the cases of Honor Killings! And so, while i applaud her efforts, I am very saddened to see that our Queen is not taking full advantage of her noteriety and position to be more actively involved in defending women's rights in the country she claims to love so dearly. As a Jordanian woman...who had lost someone i loved dearly to the barbaric practice of Honor Killings...I appeal to our Queen to help us in abolishing articles 340, 98, and 97 which are used to sanction these types of murders and protect the perpetrators of these crimes...Please remember Queen Noor, that with fame, notoriety, and freedom, comes great responsibility....the women of Jordan need your active and constant support in abolishing these articles, and granting them true equality....as outlined in the countries constitution. Jordan is in direct breach of many of the conventions and Human Rights agreements it has ratified with the UN over the years by allowing these articles to continue to exist......How many more innocent Jordanian women must die in the name of honor? How much more innocent blood must be spilled in our streets before the government (mainly the lower house of parliament) realizes that Jordan as a country has lost its honor...by allowing and condoning the barbaric murder of it's women! And so, regardless of how wonderful and honorable a picture of Jordan my eloquent Queen Noor attempts to portray....I for one do not see it that way...and I am certain if you speak to many Jordanian women still sitting in Jordanian prisons for their own protection (victims of rape, and rumors that can get them killed by members of their own families, in "in so called "honor killings" which are sanctioned by Jordanian laws) they also will not see it that way...speak to the many sisters or friends of the thousands of victims over the years...they also will not see it that way. Speak to the average Jordanian woman...struggling with the daily inequalities...who is speaking out on their behalf??? While you are so eloquently trying to show the world how wonderful and honorable Jordan has been??? Again, I say...I am saddened, by the lack of acknowledgment of the struggles the Jordanian women are facing, and the lack of active involvement by Queen Noor, and Queen Rania. It is not enough to just say that you do not condone it...you must do more....your female citizens lives...and quality of life depends on it! So much more emphasis I believe should have been placed on a woman's perspective (from a leadership position) on the position of women in Jordanian society...after all you are a woman....you are our representative...but instead you spent the majority of the book explaining King Husseins position and political battles...what about your own voice, and your own battles as a woman...watching the women in your country struggle for basic human rights???

I wasn't sure, at first, that I was going to enjoy this book. But I became very interested in the story's progress because the author made me care for her family and her point of view. There was just enough history, personal perspective, and likeability of the characters that I wanted to see how they weathered the treacherous affairs of world politics. It was an eye-opening experience for me, and I support her efforts to improve the west's perception of Arabs and its understanding of Middle East affairs. I found it to be worth reading.

If you're 14 years old and believe in Cinderella than maybe you'll believe that Lisa Halaby meets King Hussein, starts hanging out with him, goes to his house for dinner every night, has him picking her up at her apartment and spending time with his children and then had no idea of why the King "wanted to speak to her father." According to the then Lisa, the King never held her hand, kissed her or made any indication that there was a romantic involvement until he "popped the question" through her dad. Nor was she apparently concerned about other woman and one of the worlds most eligible batchleors.

And no one in Jordan suspected anything. The other odd part of the story is that according to Lisa, she never had a boyfriend of any kind. Now, she does not come out and say that, but she never mentions one male friend: not a date to the highschool prom, a classmate or co workers, not even a casual date. Now that's a little hard to believe. According to her, she had no male friends and no female friends either.

The reader also has to realize that Lisa's story was not a rags to riches. Her father made lots of money in the airline industry and was the FAA director for JFK although her mother was always complaining. That's why I was a little surprised when then Lisa's mother had reservations about her daughter marrying one of the riches men in the world.

For a perspective of the Arab/Israeli question for the Arab and Jordianian point of view, Queen Noor's story is interesting and gives a good perspective. However, I would have though that she would have had better ghost writers.

The Queen, who does a good bit of name dropping, is suddently best friends with all of the worlds royalty. However, she starts the book saying that she can't make friends and has no friends to discuss the forthcoming marriage to Hussein. She never deals with her lose of American citizenship, or her change in religion which would seem to be a crises in most peoples lives. She just did it. According to her, everything thing in her life with Hussein was pretty great. She mentions a few problems with step children and rumors of the King and other women, but everything according to her was blissful. She marries the king, everything is happy and she has babies. The only problems she discusses are political.

As a resident of the City of Cleveland, I was pretty surprised when the Queen mentions in passing that her husband went to a "clinic in Cleveland" when he was ill. In the next paragraph she does mention the Cleveland Clinic, but as I recall the city and the clinic did a lot for the King when he was here.

Only in a letter that the King wrote to her on their 10th anniversary to you get in feel for Hussein's feelings for the Queen and the final part of the book regarding the king's illness, which I thought was too short, was touching.

All in all the book is a defense of Hussein's position in the Middle East and in history. It touches only lightly on the real Lisa Halaby/Queen Noor.

Americans are fascinated with Grace Kelly and I guess that Queen Noor falls in the same category. However, all in all, she comes across in the book as extremely shallow. It would be interesting to read a bio of the wife of an Israeli prime minister and compare the two but for telling her story, Queen Noor didn't do a very good job in convincing me. You don't see Lisa Halaby change to Queen Noor. She see Queen Noor telling you what she wants you to hear and believe.

I was also disappointed that she gave no information about her current life post-Hussein. That would have been interesting and could have made a good conclusion. She ends her story with the death of her husband. Maybe that's the way she sees life.

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2.0 out of 5 stars not what I was looking for
found this book ,not what I thought it would be ,would have liked to have heard more about her life,the kids ,family time ,what life was like for her ,it was a book I had a hard... Read more

Published on July 1 2009 by v. rubin

5.0 out of 5 stars "I will not fail you, my love."
Lisa Halaby was born in 1951 to a privileged and influential Arab-American family. Upon graduation from Princeton, she worked in several countries, including Jordan, as an... Read more

Published on Mar 23 2007 by Kona

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unexpected Pleasure
"Leap of Faith" is the most remarkable memoir that I have read since Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom". Read more

Published on Aug 19 2004 by Bonny Norton

5.0 out of 5 stars Sustained Optimism
Little did I know that the autobiography of an American who married an Arab monarch would be a lesson in enduring love and ceaseless diplomacy in the Middle East. Read more

Published on July 18 2004 by Dr. Jacqueline Brice-Finch

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a good sense of history
Queen Noor's book was well received by a segment of the public. King Hussein courted her and married her in a few weeks. Read more

Published on July 7 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars Queen Noor:- a latter member of the beat generation
From the book, it is obvious that Queen Noor is a latter member of the beat generation. For instance, there was the part about how she temporarily dropped out Princeton on... Read more

Published on Jun 22 2004 by Graeme Phillips

5.0 out of 5 stars Faithful consort
She was the spouse of a king, Hussein of Jordan. Lisa Halaby met the king in 1976. Her father had been an airline executive and head of the Federal Aviation Administration. Read more

Published on Jun 17 2004 by Mary E. Sibley

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, Politically Polished though...
Will, reading this book was an enjoyable experience, and as a jordainian i think that some of the subjects covered in this book were polished, but its really important to know how... Read more

Published on Jun 3 2004 by Ahmad Alasker

3.0 out of 5 stars Memoir?
The book was very bias and strongly motivated by Queen Noor's personal beliefs. I would have liked for the book to include some detail on her personal life, however she limited... Read more

Published on Jun 2 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars Biased Perspective And Anti-Semitic
This book really sucked. When I purchased it, I was hoping to learn more about Queen Noor, the person. Read more

Published on May 28 2004

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