Reading the description of this memoir might give the reader the idea it is mostly about the author's divorce and the kidnapping of her children, but those two topics are only covered briefly towards the end of the book. Personally, I was glad about that, because long drawn-out divorce stories and custody battles often make tedious reading. This story was anything but tedious, and provided much insight on how wives and women in general were treated in Saudi Arabia.

In the 1970s, Patricia Bonis was a college student at Wellesley College, basking in the freedom college life provided. She could be described as a bit of a wild girl, who was also a bit wild back in high school, and for sure a party girl. At one college party she met a Saudi named Rahman Abbar who dazzled her with his looks, worldliness, money and desire for fun and excitement. Ms. Bonis came from a wealthy family, but nowhere near as wealthy as the Abbars in Jeddah.

After two years of a whirlwind romance, reality began to set in when Mr. Abbar's family was coming to Boston for his graduation. Surprisingly, the author was soon seen as an acceptable girlfriend by the elder Abbars, and was even seen as an acceptable wife if she became a Muslin. Surprisingly, it was amazingly easy for an Italian Catholic woman from New York to convert, and she would go visit Saudi Arabia.

This is when the story really got interesting, because life in Jeddah was shockingly different for women than life in the United States. She would hear horror stories about what happened to various women, and even became involved in an incident that could have got her jailed and worse. Did this highly educated, free-thinking 22-year-old get out of Saudi Arabia as fast as she could. Physically, yes, but she ended up back there after quickly marrying her beloved in Europe.

Why did she go ahead and marry him, knowing they would soon be returning to Jeddah to live? Ms. Bonis gives all sorts of reasons throughout the story, and some are understandable and believable. Marriage proved to be a rocky ride, though, with her husband becoming a hugely different person after marrying. Two children would eventually be born, and what happened after Patricia Bonnis filed for divorce was devastating for any mother. Yet the story ends on a most positive note.