Woman at Point Zero tells the story of Firdaus an Egyptian woman who is being held in an Egyptian prison. The novel is based on a true story. It was first published in 1975 in Lebanon because Egyptian publishers thought it was too radical. It was translated from Arabic to English in 1983.
Firdaus is a murderess. In the second chapter, she talks about the consistent abuse she suffered from childhood until her breaking point when she kills her pimp. Woman at Point Zero is hailed as a classic feminist text, though for years it was excluded from the feminist canon. Some critics have cried racism in response. Others have cited how the novel does not align with mainstream feminism,...
