Saadawi, Nawal.

Woman at point zero / Nawal el Saadawi ; translated by Sherif Hetata. - London : Zed, 2007. - xii, 114 p. ; 20 cm.

'All the men I did get to know, every single man of them, has filled me with but one desire: to lift my hand and bring it smashing down on his face. But because I am a woman I have never had the courage to lift my hand. And because I am a prostitute, I hid my fear under layers of make-up'. So begins Firdaus' 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 finally meets Sharifa who tells her that 'A man does not know a woman's value...the higher you price yourself the more he will realise what you are really worth' and leads her into a life of prostitution. Desperate and alone, she takes drastic action.

ISBN: 9781842778739 1842778730

Subjects--Topical Terms:
IB
International Literature

Subjects--Geographic Terms:
Egypt--Fiction.

Dewey Class. No.: 892.736