The Greater Freedom: Life as a Middle Eastern Woman Outside the Stereotypes by Alya Mooro

Egyptian-born and London-raised, Alya Mooro grew up between two cultures and felt a pull from both. Where could she turn for advice and inspiration when it seemed there was nobody else like her? Today, Mooro is determined to explore and explode the myth that she must identify either as Western or as one of almost 400 million other Arabs across the Middle East. Through countless interviews and meticulous research, as well as her own unique experience, Mooro gives voice to the Middle Eastern women who, like her, don't fit the mold. Women under pressure to conform to society's ideals of how a woman should look and behave, what she should want and be. Women who want to think and act and love freely, without feeling that every choice means picking a side. Women who are two things at once and, consequently, neither. Part memoir, part social exploration, this is a book for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.