Woman at Point Zero cover art

Woman at Point Zero

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Woman at Point Zero

By: Nawal El Saadawi
Narrated by: Amira Ghazalla
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £11.93

Buy Now for £11.93

Bloomsbury presents Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, read by Amira Ghazalla.

'An unforgettable, unmissable book for the new global feminist.'
The Times

'I think her life has been one long death threat. At a time when nobody else was talking, she spoke the unspeakable' – Margaret Atwood


'All the men I did get to know filled me with but one desire: to lift my hand and bring it smashing down on his face.'

So begins Firdaus's remarkable story of rebellion against a society founded on lies, hypocrisy, brutality and oppression. Born to a peasant family in the Egyptian countryside, Firdaus struggles through childhood, seeking compassion and knowledge in a world which gives her little of either. As she grows up and escapes the fetters of her childhood, each new relationship teaches her a bitter but liberating truth – that the only free people are those who want nothing, fear nothing and hope for nothing.

This classic novel has been an inspiration to countless people across the world. Saadawi's searing indictment of society's brutal treatment of women continues to resonate today.(P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Classics Gender Studies Middle Eastern Social Sciences World Literature
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c

Critic reviews

I think her life has been one long death threat. At a time when nobody else was talking, she spoke the unspeakable
Nawal El Saadawi writes with directness and passion, transforming the systematic brutalisation of peasants and of women into powerful allegory.
This book will look you dead in the eye… I thoroughly recommend this book because it will make you examine the ways in which people in impossible situations can retain dignity and control over themselves. Read it wide-eyed
The most influential feminist thinker in the Arab world over the past half-century.
El Saadawi has a flair for melodrama and mystery
A powerful indictment of the treatment of women in many parts of the Middle East, Labour Herald Woman at Point Zero should begin the long march towards a realistic and sympathetic portrayal of Arab women
Scorching
Simple, but sharp and infuriating... Woman at Point Zero is the story of one Arab woman, but it reads as if it is every woman’s life
An unforgettable, unmissable book for the new global feminist
This novella opened my eyes to the ideas of power structures
This extraordinary novel, written with such compassion, forces us to the edge, and deep inside what must be one of the worst tales of women’s oppression while somehow managing to inspire hope, if only through the courage of Nawal El Saadawi for being one of the first to tell this story to the world
Leaves an indelible mark. This is a tale of injustice, inequality and sheer bad luck - written with such grace and skill as to be on a part with the finest literature of this or any era - haunting, poetic and fiercely relevant
All stars
Most relevant
Women at Point Zero offers a piercing look at society’s hypocrisy from a woman’s perspective. Sadaawi exposes how moral codes, supposedly ment to protect, often serve to control. And the men who claim to defend women’s virtue frequently exploit it. Sharp and unforgettable, book cuts deep into the societal injustices women face. A must-read.

Morality and power: social hypocrisy from a woman’s perspective

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.