Firdus grew up poor in Egypt and learned early on that men were the only ones who mattered in society. She wanted to go to school and her uncle helped her but she soon found out that, again, she was subject to the whims of the man her ruled her life. She was thrown out because of the jealousy of her uncle's wife and now must learn how to survive on the streets as a woman in a patriarchal society. It's not long before she realizes that without a husband, her prospects are limited and she ends up a prostitute. Rather than diminishing her though, she is able to realize her own power in that position and is able to be beholden to no one until a man comes in and decides he will now be her pimp. Firdus can only take it so long before she kills him in order to reclaim her own agency. As a result, she is sentenced to death. This is a man's world after all and her agency does not matter.
A true story told by Firdus as she sat on death row. She wanted no clemency, since to have that was to give up her agency again and she would prefer death. Firdus suffers constantly due to the men around her but because she is a woman, that is her "place". A moving and powerful story that is too familiar to too many women around the world. I can't say I enjoyed it because it's a hard read but it was gripping and important.
Page count: 142p/22,239p ytd/330,936p lifetime
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