Jean Sasson
| Jean P. Sasson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Troy, Alabama, United States |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1991-present |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Notable works | Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Jean P. Sasson (born 1950,Troy, Alabama, United States) is an American writer whose work mainly centers around women in the Middle East.
Growing up in a small town, Sasson found adventure between the pages of books. Her strong desire to uproot herself from her rural surroundings led her to jump at the opportunity to work and travel abroad. In 1978 she traveled to Saudi Arabia to work in the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh as an administrative coordinator of medical affairs., where she met Peter Sasson, her future husband. They married in 1982 and Sasson left the hospital after four years of service, but the couple remained in Saudi Arabia until 1990.
During their time in the Middle East, the Sassons made many friends, including members of the royal Al-Saud family, who visited the hospital. The most notable of these friendships was between Sasson and "Princess Sultana", the princess about whose life The Princess Trilogy tells.
Sasson is currently based in Atlanta, Georgia.
– Knightsbridge Pub. Co.; 1st edition (January 1991)
Sasson's first book, The Rape of Kuwait about the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, was published in 1991. It was based on interviews she conducted with Kuwaitis who had fled to Cairo, Saudi Arabia, London and Washington, D.C. The book was published before the war broke out. Advertisements in the major newspapers and on network television featured the book with the accompanying tag line: "Read it and you'll know why we're there". The Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington paid to send 200,000 copies of it to American troops in the Persian Gulf.
– Windsor-Brooke Books, LLC (March 1, 2001)
Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, her second book, chronicles the life of Sultana, a purported Saudi princess. It claims to be a true story, detailing gender inequalities experienced by Saudi Arabian women. The identity of Sultana (a pseudonym) is concealed to assure her safety. The book remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for 13 weeks. In 1995, a lawsuit was brought against the author of the book alleging plagiarism. The lawsuit was later dismissed. The court held that the plaintiff's claim was "objectively unreasonable" and directed her to pay the defendants' legal fees.
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