Based on the true story of a female prisoner at the Qanatir Prison in Egypt, Woman at Point Zero is one of Nawal El Saadawi’s most celebrated works. After Egyptian publishers rejected the book because of its radical content, Saadawi had it published in Lebanon in 1975. It was then translated from Arabic and published in English in 1983.
Woman at Point Zero tells the story of Firdaus, a notorious inmate at Qanatir. Saadawi visited Firdaus and other female prisoners while conducting research on neurosis in Egyptian women. She performed numerous in-depth case studies, and 21 of them were published in her 1976 work Women and Neurosis in Egypt, but Firdaus’s story was particularly poignant to Saadawi—so much so that Saadawi was determined to immortalize Firdaus and her story in the form of an exclusive novel.
Although it is considered a classic piece of Egyptian feminist fiction, until recently, Woman at Point Zero was left out of the feminist literary canon. Some critics argue that this was because Saadawi is an Arab woman writing about the lives of non-white, non-western women. While the book does have aspects specific to Arab society, one of its core themes, feminist awakening, is pertinent across countries and cultures.
The novel also offers a different take on the feminist topic of “choice.” In mainstream feminist thought, any decision can be viewed as feminist as long as it’s a woman’s choice. Woman at Point Zero troubles this idea, arguing that the mere fact of a woman choosing something doesn’t make that choice feminist. This break with mainstream feminist theory further distinguishes Saadawi and Woman at Point Zero from other authors and works of feminist thought.
Though it has yet to receive any official awards or accolades, Woman at Point Zero is a dire yet triumphant tale that continues to resonate with readers around the world.
