Patricia Holton,Andrea Jones, Mother Without a Mask: A Westerner's Story of Her Arab Family

Whilst visiting Dubai I read Patricia Holton,Andrea Jones, "Mother Without a Mask: A Westerner's Story of Her Arab Family" with fascination.Having been born in Bahrain in 1958 and having spent my childhood (to age 21) throughout the Middle East (Libya, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran) together with working in Saudi Arabia for 12 months, I was very curious to read Patricia Holton ' s book.I think all Western ' s who are negative to the Arabs and their religion should read this book with an open mind together with businessmen and all who consider travelling to the region or working there.I thought the book was very well written and from the heart with no hidden agenda. Patricia Holton has truly captured the Arab people, their lives, beliefs, morals and truly shows that there are many things we can all learn from their culture together with the understanding of what the real Arab is all about. They are very civilized, generous in all manners and totally misunderstood by the West. There is so much we can learn from them and if only we did. How very sad that the true history of the Arabs and their way of life is fading with time, becoming more like the West. I am a firm believer that this is not a positive way forward. I feel very at home sitting amongst the people of the Middle East and most importantly, very safe and respected as a woman which is not reality in the West.

This is the story of the experiences of Patricia Holton, an American women, after she and her family befriended a couple of young Arab men from the Al-Ain/Buraimi Oasis (which lies along the border between the United Arab Emirates and Oman). Over more than a decade her life intertwines with the lives of these young men and their family, both in the UAE and in the UK. She gives us a rare glimpse of how rapidly life changed in UAE from the 1970s to the present, which in many ways is comparable to the change that also occurred here in neighboring Oman. I enjoyed this book, especially because of Patricia's accurate description of life within the home and cultural aspects of women's daily routines and gatherings. Patricia's open-mindedness to the women's ways allowed her to become "part" of the family that she often visited. I highly recommend this book to Western women who would like to visit Oman or UAE.

Patricia Holton has revealed a true glimpse of the cloistered, secret life of the traditional Saudi Arabian family. How like the rest of us they are in their love of children and family, but how different they also are in their own private ritualism and traditionalist customs that have bound them even in the 20th century. A delightfully personal view of an insiders view of the very concealed and protected lives of some of the wealthiest people in Saudi Arabia.