Leap of Faith - Queen Noor Al-Hussein

Title: Leap of Faith
Author: Queen Noor Al-Hussein
Genre: Memoir, non-fiction
Rating: 4/5
# pages: Audiobook, ~17hrs
Date read: February, 2012

With eloquence and candor, Queen Noor speaks of the obstacles she faced as a naive young bride in the royal court, of rebelling against the smothering embrace of security guards and palace life, and of her own successful struggle to create a working role as a humanitarian activist in a court that simply expected Noor to keep her husband happy.

As she gradually took on the mantle of a queen, Noor's joys and challenges grew. After a heartbreaking miscarriage, she gave birth to four children. Meshing the demands of motherhood with the commitments of her position often proved difficult, but she tried to keep her young children by her side, even while flying the world with her husband in his relentless quest for peace.

This mission would reap satisfying rewards, including greater Arab unity and a peace treaty with Israel, and suffer such terrible setbacks as the Gulf War and the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin.

A fascinating book about an amazing love story. American-born Lisa ends up being married to King Hussein of Jordan and changing her name to Noor Al-Hussein - the light of Hussein.

The book spans from the early 1960s to the late 1990s and as such deals heavily with the various conflicts in the Middle East of those years. It gives a very different view on certain events than one usually hears, and made me question some things I had otherwise taken for granted. I know "history is written by the winners", but neither the USA nor Israel come out of this smelling like roses.

But though very political, the main attraction to me was the personal aspect - hearing life of royalty described by one of their own. Queen Noor Al-Hussein comes across as a charming and charismatic woman who ended up being a definite asset to Jordan.