This is because it gave the West an insight into the life of women in Saudi Arabia, the ways some had managed to overcome the prescriptive model set for them, and the ways some had suffered both physical and emotional abuse accepted in the traditions.
In this latest offering, the almost proselytising way of presenting the stories can create a resistance in the reader.
But putting that aside, the stories speak powerfully for those who find themselves in a culture where being female is both covertly and overtly an inferior and helpless status.
The princess, who contributes the first four chapters, talks openly about the challenges within her own family, where she has two daughters and a son.
The women must develop their ways of negotiating power relationships, while accepting that formal power resides with the son.
The stories of those who sit in a totally powerless and often abused situation are a challenge to the reader.
They are told with clarity and concern, but can offer very little solution.
If readers have appreciated the earlier books, they will welcome this one.
For new readers, you can simply enter the story at this point and appreciate the mission these two women are on.
• Willie Campbell is a Dunedin educator.
