Synopses & Reviews
Rebelling against the contraints of family and society, a young Egyptian woman decides to study medicine, becoming the only woman in a class of men. Her encounters with the other students as well as the male and female corpses in the autopsy room intensify her dissatisfaction with and search for identity. She realizes men are not gods as her mother had taught her, that science cannot explain everything, and that she cannot be satisfied by living a life purely of the mind.
After a brief and unhappy marriage, she throws herself into her work, becoming a successful physician, but at the same time, she becomes aware of injustice and hypocrisy in society. Fulfillment and love come to her at last in a wholly unexpected way.
Synopsis
A young Egyptian female medical student overcomes social hypocrisy and social injustice to become a caring and successful physician.
About the Author
After studying in Cairo, Nawal El Saadawi practiced medicine both in Egyptian cities and in the countryside. She became director of health education in Egypt, but her writing made her increasingly the focus of controversy. Prominent in the struggle for Arab women's rights, her book The Hidden Face of Eve was published in 1982. She is the author of several novels and short story collections.