Daring to Drive
Manal al-Sharif
Simon & Schuster, $32.99
One night in 2011 Manal al-Sharif was walking along a street in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Her face was uncovered, drivers slowed down, abusing her. She was terrified. She had a car, but in Saudi Arabia women are forbidden to drive. On her birthday she posted a YouTube video of her defiantly in the radical act of driving a car. It was a hit and got her arrested. The charge: "Driving while female." What followed was Kafka-esque: arrest at four in the morning, prison officers calling her shameful and a jail cell full of cockroaches and grime. The good news is a protest movement, Women2Drive, resulted. She weaves memoir into her account: beaten by her father, growing up strictly religious, education and a liberal attitude. In between, marriage, divorce and daring to cut her hair short. A tale of bravery in the face of oppression.