Steil - The woman who fell from the sky: an American journalist in Yemen

Praise for The Woman Who Fell from the Sky

Offers the voices of Muslim women torn between familial concerns and individual freedoms.

Newsweek

A completely winning account of [Steils] adventures as a feminist mentor and boss A riveting tale of a lifes journey that reads as if it will need a sequel.

New York Times

A delightful and straight-talking story of one American woman living, working, and finding friendship and love in a Muslim country. Highly recommended for interested memoir readers as well as journalism, Middle Eastern, and womens studies students.

Library Journal

Anybody who has taken on an unfamiliar task, moved to a new place, or taken on a new role at work or at home without being at all sure about having the necessary skills should find a kindred spirit here.

Post and Courier

The image of Yemen that Steil paints is one of love, family, honor, and surprisingly, of women who are both powerful and liberated but, because of custom, unwilling to flaunt their beauty in public. An antidote to stereotypes and blind prejudice.

Sydney Morning Herald, A Pick of the Week

From the first page of The Woman Who Fell from the Sky, Jennifer Steil comes across as a person blessed with sensibility and sensitivity in equal measure. She is the kind of woman whos not fearful of culture shock, danger, or the trials and tribulations of life in what is the Arab Worlds rawest land. Her writing is an absolute delightno nonsense, clear, funny, and sometimes alarming, as she threads her way through the ins and outs of Yemeni life. Steil has achieved far more than a simple description of a stint working at a newspaper in Sanaa. Rather, her book shines a vibrant light on the region, showing it how it is, with astonishing clarity from the inside out.

Tahir Shah, author of The Caliphs House and In Arabian Nights

A fascinating read.

The Age (Australia)

Steil puts humanity and color into her description of a country most Americans know only as a desert haven for terrorists. Her affection for Yemen and its people will make readers want to see it for themselves. A lovely book that offers a large measure of cultural understanding in a region that is too easily misunderstood and caricatured.

Nina Burleigh, author of Unholy Business

The Woman Who Fell from the Sky is that rare animal: a memoir which reads like a novel. From the exquisite detail to the passionate, poignant, and often hilarious story of one powerful woman immersed in centuries of patriarchal tradition, Steil takes us on a journey that left me exhausted and exhilarated. Hugely entertaining and vitally important to our times, the book tucks us under a veil and allows us a unique glimpse into a culture as old as Noah. Not only did I remember what it feels and smells like to live imbedded in the Arab world, I also relearned my craft of journalism along with Steils students in her dusty classroom halfway around the world. Veils and hats off to this winner!

Jennifer Jordan, author of Savage Summit:
The Life and Death of the First Five Women of K2

With intelligence, humor, and courage, Jennifer Steils book helps us see beyond stereotypes of male and female, East and West, conservative and liberal to appreciate the beauty and wonder of deeply rooted culturesand the authentic relationships that can transcend them all.

Susan Piver, author of How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life
and The Wisdom of a Broken Heart

Jennifer Steils voice recalls that of Isak Dinesen and Freya Stark: generous and observant, unabashed in her love for her home in exile, yet unafraid to speak her mind about injustice, and everything laced with wit and rich detail. This is an important book about a corner of the world we cannot afford to misunderstand, and Jennifer Steil is the perfect person to guide us.

Tom Zoellner, author of The Heartless Stone and Uranium

While this is a true story, some names and details have been changed to protect the identities of those who appear in these pages.

Copyright 2010, 2011 by Jennifer F. Steil

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Broadway Paperbacks, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com

BROADWAY PAPERBACKS and its logo, a letter B bisected on the diagonal, are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in hardcover in slightly different form in the United States by Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 2010.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published and unpublished material:

American Institute for Yemeni Studies for permission to reprint a poem from The Book of Sanaa: Poetry of Abd al-Aziz al-Maqali, translated by Bob Holman and Sam Liebhaber (2004). Reprinted by permission of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for permission to reprint excerpts of the locust recipes taken from their website. Reprinted by permission of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy.

The Yemen Observer for permission to reprint excerpts of articles from the Yemen Observer. Reprinted by permission of Faris al-Sanabani and the Yemen Observer.

Zaid al-Alayaa for permission to reprint an excerpt of his note and poem to Jennifer Steil. Reprinted by permission of Zaid al-Alayaa.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Steil, Jennifer F.
The woman who fell from the sky / Jennifer Steil.1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Steil, JenniferTravelYemenSana. 2. Sana (Yemen)Description and travel.
3. JournalistsYemenSanaBiography. I. Title.
DS248.S26S74 2010
953.32dc22 2009037172

eISBN: 978-0-307-71587-6

Cover design by LAURA DUFFY
Cover photography by JESSICA BOONE/GETTY IMAGES (pomegranate); J ENNIFER F. STEIL (city)

v3.1

For Kawkab,
and all the other feisty Yemeni women
who give me hope for the country

she was a woman
who fell from the sky in robes
of dew
and became
a city

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Nothing in this book or my life would be remotely possible without the entire staff, past and present, of the Yemen Observer. Thank you for working so very hard for me, despite my mercurial management style. I owe you all an infinite debt of gratitude.

I also owe bottomless thanks to:

Theo Padnos, for getting me here.