4.5 stars
Writes Manal al-Sharif: “Deep inside, I have always wanted to tell my story. What I could not have known was that after May 22, 2011, my story would be of interest to millions of people simply because I, a Saudi woman, drove a car.” This book is a searing look at what it means to be a woman in Saudi Arabia today and abounds with emotion and sincerity. Manal al-Sharif is a modern-day heroine and we get to know her intimately through the pages of this book, from her childhood and her religious fanaticism to her education both in and out of school to her road to becoming a world-renown activist, setting an example for millions of women worldwide. She writes in her Acknowledgement, and explains in the book at various times, how privately life is lived in Saudi Arabia and so this unabashed and forthright story must have been difficult to tell, but she is unflinching in her portrayal and we benefit because of it. It was so interesting to learn what it is really like to live in Saudi Arabian society and what life is like for women there; also, it puts women driving—which is such a well-known thing and the Kingdom is famous for forbidding—into greater context, and helps us see how courageous Manal and other women in Saudi Arabia truly are. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Beautiful memoir filled with passion for women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Her voice is filled with emotion while speaking her mind. She will become a person you will tell your friends about, your daughters and sisters. So much learning comes from this book. The customs, the general day to day ways. Highly recommend.

Lovely! Manal al-Sharif is a wonderful role model. I loved her story so much, and haven't been able to stop talking about it.

Imagine you are a woman in Saudi Arabia. Legally you are a minor, you must obtain a male guardian’s consent for even the most mundane activities, like opening a bank account or renting a house. Your father, husband, brother or son constitute a guardian. You cannot marry or divorce without the consent of your male guardian.

You cannot get a job or travel or even obtain a passport or an identification card with the consent of your guardian. If – for some reason – you are in prison, you cannot leave without the permission of your male guardian. Your guardian’s permission is required for certain medical – even life-threatening – treatments.

In addition, you cannot interact freely with men and you have to cover your body and hair when appearing in public. Α survey conducted by the Riyadh-based King Abdul Aziz Centre for National Dialogue, in 2014, found that 86.5 per cent of the men polled believed that women are to blame for the rising cases involving molestation of females on the grounds they are seduced by women’s excessive make up (to clarify – that means mascara and eyeliner).

And until now – for first time women will be allowed to obtain a driver’s license in June 2018- you were not able to drive in Saudi Arabia. You couldn’t drive to go to work, or pick up your children from the school, of visit family and friends.

Women in Saudi Arabia were fighting for years, to change that. One of these women is Manal al-Sharif. An evening, a few years back, Manal was on her way home from a doctor’s appointment. The surgery was just 15 minutes drive from where she lived in Dhahran. She was alone, it was dark, and she was struggling to find a taxi. Men in cars, kept driving past jeering at, and harassing her. One man in a car followed her, until the terrified Manal threw a rock at his car. Then she burst into tears.

Manal had a driver’s licence, issued from the United Arab Emirates, she owned a car, she worked as an Information Security Consultant for Saudi Aramco. She was educated, respected by her colleagues, independent. But she wasn’t allowed to drive her own car .

Daring to Drive reads like a thriller. It is a compelling and infuriating account of a woman’s life. It is about the magnitude of obstacles that women face in this kingdom of men; it is about their fight for dignity and freedom. It also provides rare glimpses of life and especially the internal contradictions of a strict fundamentalist Islamic society.

A memoir is a hard thing to review: it's a persons personal experience. In this case, Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening was a solid 3 star, enjoyable read.

Not only was it well paced and it never lagged; Manal Al-Sharif was able to bring in historical references that provided further context, and she was always willing to back up an event with a personal story. I never once thought that Al-Sharif wrote this in a way to make her look better, or more the "hero", but more as something to shed light on a very real struggle.

I know that the book was about her struggle to drive in Saudi Arabia, as well as her arrest for "driving while female", but I also think that she brought to light so many other injustices. The fact that her son from her first marriage can't come and visit her in Dubai, or that her son from her second marriage can't travel to Saudi Arabia. All because of male politics, male customs and beliefs that put a mother's rights secondary to those of her husband/ father of her children.

If you have an interest in better understanding women in Saudi Arabia I think you'll enjoy this book. It's well written, provides cultural and historical references that make it easy to follow, and is really a very intriguing story.

Not all superheros wear capes -- some wear headscarves.

One need not turn to The Handmaid's Tale in order to read a story about female oppression. Manal Al-Sharif's book "Daring to Drive" provides outsiders an inside look at life in one of the world's most repressive countries -- Saudi Arabia.

Manal's story begins almost at the end, when she is taken from her home under cover of darkness by unidentified authorities because she has been seen driving (while technically not illegal in Saudi Arabia, Saudi custom forbids women from driving and anyone caught in defiance of the custom is treated as a criminal).

Manal then goes "back to the beginning" and takes readers on a journey through her life -- her own fundamentalism and subsequent conversion to questioner; her awful marriage; her education and career experience; and finally her work in challenging the status quo that forbids women from driving.

The story is riveting and eye-opening. Although I would consider myself to be a person who has fairly good general knowledge of current world affairs, I was shocked in reading the details about life under the Saudi regime.

This book is heartily recommended for those wanting to know more about Saudi Arabia and women who are working to improve the standing of other women.

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am not inclined to read memoirs as a rule, unless it is one by a remarkable individual whose story is impactful, whose journey is more than just trying to find oneself, whose story has something in it that I, not just as a woman, but as a human being should know. This is one such memoir of a truly remarkable woman who is smart and courageous and fights the fight not just for herself but for all women. Manal Al-Sharif, has written a personal account but it is not just one woman's story . It represents the story of so many other women in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the world living with restrictions on their lives - restrictions of law , of religious beliefs, of customs. This is not just about being jailed for driving , but is a telling of her life and of the injustices imposed on women. Women in this society where she was raised cannot control their own lives . True they couldn't drive but they were also subject to the idea of male guardianship - a husband or father or brother has control of you. In some cases as it was for Manal and her sister, they were subjected to the ultimate of degradations -female circumcision, what she says is really genital mutilation.

She emphasizes the importance of education in her life. While the introduction of schools for girls had restrictions and beatings and were dirty, Manal says she is "grateful for school " because it was there that she learned how to read. A good part of the book does focus on her arrest and her work with organizations and social media to inform and try to change these restrictions, but I was given an education on the culture and customs of Saudi Arabia, of which I knew little about as she writes of her earlier life. As she is subjected to imprisonment in awful conditions because she drove a car, she is told she broke no law but was told , "You broke orf " (tradition or custom)

This is a bold and powerful story, fascinating, gut wrenching and hopeful. Her book is subtitled "A Saudi Woman's Awakening" but it is also an awakening for the reader - to the Saudi culture, to the injustice towards women and to a personal acknowledgement of just how lucky I am to be in this country in spite of my concern over some of the things I see happening today. I highly recommend this to my women Goodreads friends and of course my male friends should read it too.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

In 2011, Manal al-Sharif made worldwide news when she was arrested for driving a car, which is taboo (but not illegal) in Saudi Arabia. In Daring to Drive, Manal takes us through her life and the culture she grew up, leading to her decision to drive openly in Saudi Arabia and what life has brought her since that time.

The book is well written and presents Manal's story in a straightforward, captivating manner. Most of us in the western world could not imagine living in the conditions forced upon women in Saudi Arabia. Manal's willingness to stand up for her rights despite the opposition of culture and the religious authorities is inspiring. This book is a must read.

4.5 stars
This book is an inspiring story of a Saudi Arabian woman who rebels against her government's rule against women driving cars . Even though this is this is the 21st century, women are still forbidden to drive cars in Saudi Arabia by custom, not by law. Manal is arrested and imprisoned for daring to drive a car and post a recording of herself doing so online. But this book is also a story of her life growing up in Saudi Arabia. She was born in 1979 and she describes the extreme conservative ideology taught in Saudi schools.
Some quotes:
On her time in prison: "We have a phrase in Arabic:'He swept the floor with my dignity.'
Privacy: "My uncle who was wealthier than my father, had nine kids, and they all slept together. We couldn't believe that there were places in the world where kids had their own rooms like we saw in the movies."
My wife and I each have a car and have had one apiece since 1977. I can't understand a society that undervalues and restricts women like Saudi Arabia. If you read and enjoyed "I am Malala" you will like this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this book.

I heard an interview on NPR with Manal al-Sharif and it intrigued me about her circumstances and being a woman in the Saudi Arabia. I got this book for my wife knowing her interest in women's rights.

She loves this book, we went on vacation and she couldn't put the book down. This book tells the tale of Manal life in Saudi and of her transformation as a face of women's rights in Saudi, in the area of driving. Her courage and strength are remarkable (heard from my wife) and a testimony to her character.

I would love for my daughter to read this book and use it as a learning tool.

This is a highly recommended book from my wife's perspective.

I stayed up until 1:30am because I couldn't go to sleep before finishing this book!! I am such a fan. Shoutout to Manal al-Sharif for her determination and courage to stand up for women's right to drive in Saudi Arabia, even if it meant being treated unfairly, thrown in jail, and losing her job in the process. I am thankful that the world has strong leaders like Manal in it. We are better for it.

Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening by Manal al-Sharif is one of my favorite non-fiction books of the year, and the audiobook is excellent. I learned so much about feminism in Saudi Arabia (and life and culture there in general), and the subject of women driving. This should be on everyone’s diverse reading list this year, it’s wonderful.

I have not read this yet but purchased a copy for myself.

Posted my review on Litsy!

"Manal al-Sharif grew up in Saudi Arabia in a strict religious household. As she became more educated, she ran into barriers finding housing, employment, and transportation due to her gender. She became frustrated and decided to fight for a change. It cost her a lot, and her story is well worth your time to read.:

Daring to Drive by Manal Al-Sharif is the story of a Saudi woman who dared defy cultural convention and drive on the streets of Saudi Arabia. While not exicity illegal "driving while female" is against orf, culture, and caused Manal to be arrested.

I enjoyed reading about how the author when from practicing extremist salafism to an activist for women. This book also stressed the importance of an education as well as having the right to Drive.

What many women in the world take for granted, the right to Drive, in Saudi Arabia women are arrested for asserting this right. Told with a love for her country and her religion Daring to Drive is a book every female, in fact every person should read. The rules for women in Saudi society need to change. This book shows us that there is hope for Saudi Arabia in regards to women's rights, albeit slow, maybe one day soon women will be able to Drive.

I acknowledge that I received this book free of charge from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of it.

Manal al-Sharif was a woman living in Saudi Arabia, but she defied expectation in many ways. She graduated with a degree in computer science and used that degree in her job, which allowed her to help her parents financially and also to care for her son. But a single mother living alone within a company compound inevitably runs into some problems, which were compacted by Saudi Arabia's rule that women were not allowed to drive. Manal never set out to defy the government or religious officials; in fact, she was a devout and severe religious adherent as as teen. But she decided she had to take a stand and became the face of the movement calling for women to drive in Saudi Arabia.

Manal al-Sharif may work with computers, but her writing is strong and compelling. Her voice is the thing that pulls you right into her story as the police bang on her door in the early morning hours and the thing that makes you continue to read. For someone who lives in the US, it was sobering to realize just how much a driving ban would limit and, in many instances, endanger women. I only wish that there was a bit of a broader lens at certain moments: I wanted to know about the other people involved and find out where Manal sees the movement going, since women still don't have the right to drive in Saudi Arabia.

Daring to Drive
A Saudi Woman's Awakening
By Manal al-Sharif
Simon and Schuster June 2017
304 pages
Read via Netgalley

What a powerful book. We hear so much in the media about Iran but we forget what women have gone thru and still go thru in Saudia Arabia. The author's story is very powerful and I highly recommend this book.

Imagine not being allowed to drive . . .

This is a gripping true story told by Manal, a woman in Saudi Arabia who got arrested by the “religious police” for driving while female. There is no law that forbids women from driving, but the religious police are powerful. One evening they took her from her house, interrogated her for hours, and then threw her in jail, with feces underfoot and cockroaches in her bed. She wasn’t in jail a long time, but her story was all the more sad because she had a young son whose mom suddenly disappeared into the night.

What shines through is her courage and perseverance to better the conditions for women in her country. People have called her the Muslim version of Rosa Parks. I know I wouldn’t have had the nerve to go up against the authorities; I would have been terrified of the consequences.

The whole time I was reading, I became more and more fascinated to learn details of a culture I knew very little about. At the same time, of course, I was thoroughly appalled by the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia. I could have been reading this for an anthropology course, and I was thirsty to learn everything I could. What was weird is that because the rules for women’s behavior are so strict, I felt like I was learning about a culture from long ago. But nope, this stuff is happening today. In fact, Manal’s story could only be told because of our modern world of social media: she originally got attention for her brave act because she and her friends videotaped her driving, and the video went viral. She calls herself an “accidental activist” because she didn’t set out to stir things up so much; she had no idea that the whole world would be watching. It begs the question: Without social media, would anyone have heard her protests? For the most part I’m not a fan of social media, but here, it played a critical role in getting her important story out to the world.

Manal is a good storyteller—she keeps it personal and intimate while at the same time maintaining the objective distance of a good journalist. The writing is good, the facts a-plenty. And the facts of the matter—what her life was like—are pretty horrendous. I guess because she was used to it (it was the only thing she knew), she often has sort of a matter-of-fact attitude. She was used to the oppression, the unfair rules, because that’s how she, her family, and her friends lived.

The interesting thing is that Manal was very religious when she was young, adhering to one of the most radical Muslim groups. She enforced the rules, even to the point of destroying her brother’s cassette tapes and generally hassling her family when they didn’t observe the customs. The restrictions for women—having to cover their faces when going out, not being able to be around boys, for example, are many. There are also a lot of superstitions, which she chronicles well. The worst crime against women is genital mutilation, which doesn’t happen to every girl—but it happened to her when she was 8. Her description will stick in my mind forever.

So how did this devout Muslim who obeyed the religious laws and customs end up becoming this activist who helped women get more freedom in Saudi Arabia? The answer is education. Although Manal’s parents were brutal in many ways, both of them kept pushing her to get more and more education—her father spent most of his day driving Manal to and from college. As her world expanded in college, so did her consciousness. Her eyes, which used to be mostly hidden by a niqab, were now wide open. She ended up working in computer science at an American-like company that had its own little town and more relaxed rules. She was allowed to drive within that area but could not drive outside it. When she did one day decide to drive outside the area, that’s when her story started to be told.

I have two minor complaints. Early on, Manal devoted a little time to describing the religious history, which I found a tad boring. And at about the two-thirds mark, she goes into too many tiny details about her getting prepared to do her drive. We're talking super minor here. Neither of these things prevented me from giving this book 5 stars.

Manal no longer lives in Saudi Arabia, although she still has ties there. In fact, she has a son there whom she could not take with her. She has another son, and her two sons have never been able to meet each other. She spends a lot of time in the public eye, telling her story and supporting women in Saudi Arabia.

This is an eye-opener of a book—and this is one amazing woman. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Review placed on Goodreads and Amazon. Will be placed on blog.

10/5 Stars

My first 10/5 Star Review for 2017.

To call this book AMAZING really understates the impact of the book. This author doesn't hold back in her words and experiences. Absolutely powerful. So, I am going to do something that I really never do in a review. I am going to swear...This book is FUCKING amazing! If you are a woman, READ THIS BOOK! If you believe in women's rights need to be demanded in a country that treats women as though they are nothing more than livestock...READ THIS BOOK. It is easy to scream about the rights of women in countries where one doesn't have to fear prison or death in doing so. Totally different when one is jailed simply for driving a car.

I know a book is fantastic when I have to force myself to put a book down to attend to other books I am reading or the job and I am looking for any reason to pull it up on any device I can find. That was this book. It is a rarity for me these days.

I have to say when I made the final call of the book earning a 10/5 stars from me was in reviewing the Goodreads 1 star reviews for it. Eighty percent of them were from males in Middle Eastern countries with no review given. It confirmed EVERYTHING this woman had the guts and courage to write about in being called a whore and other names simply for speaking out OR walking on a street unaccompanied.

This book is simply put is just pure #womenpower.

(reviewed for publisher through netgalley)

Mandatory reading for every one, but especially any member of the #Resisterhood - this is what we fight for, y'all.