num_pages: 114
description: "However, every single man 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 story, leading to her grimy Cairo prison cell, where she welcomes her death sentence as a relief from her pain and suffering. Born to a peasant family in the Egyptian countryside, Firdaus suffers a childhood of cruelty and neglect. Her passion for education is ignored by her family, and on leaving school she is forced to marry a much older man. Following her escapes from violent relationships, she meets Sharifa, who leads her into a life of prostitution, telling her that 'a man does not know a woman's value ... the higher you price yourself the more he will realize what you are really worth.' Desperate and alone, she takes drastic action.Saadawi's searing indictment of society's brutal treatment of women continues to resonate today. This classic novel has been an inspiration to countless people across the world.
language: English
title: Woman at Point Zero
titlecomplete: Woman at Point Zero
genres: Feminism, Egypt, Womens, African Literature, Literary Fiction, Africa, School, Classics, Novels, Fiction
ratings_count: 19532
places: Cairo, Middle East, North Africa, Egypt
publisher: Zed Books