A Bridge Through Time

by Laila Abou-Saif

Featuring a foreword by Gloria Steinem, the autobiography of an Egyptian woman who resisted the traditional role of women in Egypt's male-dominated society provides a contemporary perspective on women and politics in the Arab world. Original.

282 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1993

About the author

The contrasts in Laila Abou-Saif's life are many. Born and raised in Cairo, she grew up in a family that valued education for both men and women, and arranged marriages for their children. After her college graduation she endured a seven-year marriage to a man chosen by her family. An Arab woman raised in the Coptic church, a Christian minority in Egypt, she developed an awareness of all the citizens of her country and began to question the true costs of the ongoing religious war with Israel. During a performance for injured soldiers in Cairo, where she taught theater at the Academy of Arts, she realized that "in order to reach the masses, Egyptian theater must retain its indigenous roots, must remain visual, physical, and musical." Using this insight, she put herself at odds with the politicians in power by challenging the government's actions in her productions. During the forty days of mourning the death of a family member, in seclusion with other women, she was inspired to film a documentary on Egyptian women. When the finished film was shown in New York City, its feminist approach threatened and angered many Egyptian officials, who retaliated by denying her access to local theaters. Despite her experiences, Laila Abou-Saif's love of her homeland is consistently felt throughout her autobiography as we come to know this vulnerable yet determined woman, honest about her faults, and committed to her beliefs.

(from http://members.authorsguild.net/labou/)

Reviews

[Jan Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desiring to learn more about Egypt, I checked out what the library had on hand and happily came upon this treasure. A fascinating story of a woman in Egypt who defied the system and got a PhD in the United States. She worked in theater and spoke out against arranged marriages and various injustices against women in the country of her birth. She had a love/hate relationship with both Egypt and the U.S.

[Chips · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only part of the book that bothered me was the general attitude of the author and her husband to the termination of her pregnancy.I found the attitude to be distant by both spouses.The attitude most likely affected my rating of the book

[University of Chicago Magazine]

Laila Abou-Saif, AM'63
Author

From our pages (Spring/86): "The memoirs of Laila Said the pen name of Abou-Saif), a woman who broke from the constraints of traditional Egyptian society to become the first and foremost woman stage director in Egypt."

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

She discusses political events as they touched her life in Egypt from 1958, when she was promised as a wife at the age of 17, until after Sadat's assassination in 1983, when she left Egypt.

[Mariam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a compelling memoir. Abou-Saif's isolation as an artist and feminist at a time before Egypt was ready for them particularly struck a chord with me. I don't know if it is because I know the courage it must have taken, or it's because the book left me wondering all the more what happened to her, but this was a story that captured my attention.