WOMAN AT POINT ZERO by Nawal El Saadawi

Translated by Sherif Hatata

Firdaus sits in jail awaiting execution for the murder of her pimp. In her final hours, she recounts her life to a visiting psychologist. It is both confession and indictment. Abused by an uncle from an early age, she is passed from man to man as little more than a chattel to be toyed with as pleased. Throughout it, she clings to the crumbs of dignity - her meagre education, her self-actualisation as a prostitute, her office job, her brief moment of love with a union organiser. Yet, all she achieves is taken away from her - the disempowerment of women is a pillar on which the society is built. It is ironic, then, that her final act of rebellion will end her life.

First published almost fifty years ago, Woman at Point Zero is a firestorm of righteous fury, fearlessly smashing at the patriarchal structures that have long served to subjugate, oppress and otherwise wrong women in Egypt. Nawal El Saadawi’s impassioned indignance imbues Firdaus’s story with vitality and urgency, making Woman at Point Zero an anti-patriarchal, anti-capitalist masterpiece. It’s easy to bandy about the term incendiary, but I’ll tell you something. This book is fire.

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Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (Tr. Sherif Hatata)
Zed Books, 2007 (First pub. 1973)
114 pages