Synopses & Reviews
”I was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez, Morocco...” So begins Fatima Mernissi in this exotic and rich narrative of a childhood behind the iron gates of a domestic harem. In Dreams of Trespass, Mernissi weaves her own memories with the dreams and memories of the women who surrounded her in the courtyard of her youthwomen who, deprived of access to the world outside, recreated it from sheer imagination. Dreams of Trespass is the provocative story of a girl confronting the mysteries of time and place, gender and sex in the recent Muslim world.
Synopsis
The must-read true story of one Muslim girl's life in her family's French Moroccan harem, set against the backdrop of World War II "I was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez, Morocco..." So begins Fatima Mernissi in this illuminating narrative of a childhood behind the iron gates of a domestic harem. In Dreams of Trespass, Mernissi weaves her own memories with the dreams and memories of the women who surrounded her in the courtyard of her youth -- women who, without access to the world outside, recreated it from sheer imagination.
A beautifully written account of a girl confronting the mysteries of time and place, gender and sex, Dreams of Trespass illuminates what it was like to be a modern Muslim woman in a place steeped in tradition.
Synopsis
This "wonderful and enchanting" memoir tells the revelatory true story of one Muslim girl's life in her family's French Moroccan harem, set against the backdrop of World War II (The New York Times Book Review). "I was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez, Morocco..." So begins Fatima Mernissi in this illuminating narrative of a childhood behind the iron gates of a domestic harem. In
Dreams of Trespass, Mernissi weaves her own memories with the dreams and memories of the women who surrounded her in the courtyard of her youth -- women who, without access to the world outside, recreated it from sheer imagination.
A beautifully written account of a girl confronting the mysteries of time and place, gender and sex, Dreams of Trespass illuminates what it was like to be a modern Muslim woman in a place steeped in tradition.
Synopsis
In Dreams of Trespass, Fatima Mernissi weaves her own memories with the dreams and memories of the women who surrounded her in the courtyard of her youth women who, deprived of access to the world outside, recreated it from sheer imagination. Dreams of Trespass is the provocative story of a girl confronting the mysteries of time and place, gender and sex in the recent Muslim world.
Synopsis
"”I was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez, Morocco...” So begins Fatima Mernissi in this exotic and rich narrative of a childhood behind the iron gates of a domestic harem. In Dreams of Trespass, Mernissi"
About the Author
Fatema Mernissi teaches sociology at University Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco. She is the author of more than eight books, including Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood, Scheherazade Goes West, The Veil and the Male Elite, and Beyond the Veil.
Table of Contents
My harem frontiers -- Scheherazade, the king, and the words -- The French harem -- Yasmina's first co-wife -- Chama and the caliph -- Tamou's horse -- The harem within -- Aquatic dishwashing -- Moonlit nights of laughter -- The men's salon -- World War II: view from the courtyard -- Asmahan, the singing princess -- The harem goes to the movies -- Egyptian feminists visit the terrace -- Princess Budur's fate -- The forbidden terrace -- Mina, the rootless -- American cigarettes -- Mustaches and breasts -- The silent dream of wings and flights -- Skin politics: eggs, dates, and other beauty secrets -- Henna, clay, and men's stares.