Born in 1877 in Geneva, Switzerland, Isabelle Eberhardt became a rebel at an early age. She dressed like a man so she could have access to areas forbidden to women, smoked in public, and scandalized Genevan society. Already multilingual (French, German, and Russian), she began studying Arabic language and Islamic culture and eventually converted to Islam and joined a Qadiriyya Sufi brotherhood. Eberhardt traveled throughout North Africa and wrote about her experiences in short stories, journals, and reflections. She married an Algerian and led a legendary and stormy life that included subversive political anarchism, the mysticism of Islam, numerous love affairs, and most importantly, writing unmatched by her contemporaries. Writings from the Sand, Volume 1, at once the document of a remarkable life and a literary treasure, appears here in English for the first time. Volume 1, including journals, diary entries, and observations of life in North Africa, offers a view of the culture and people of French Algeria rarely seen by outsiders-the peasants, prostitutes, mystics, criminals, and other marginalized members of a colonized society. This translation brings to life a brilliant woman ahead of her time while also raising questions-about North African history, colonialism, gender representation, and writing-that resonate in our day.

"The Forbidden Woman" tells the story of Sultana, an Algerian woman doctor who, after years spent living in France, returns to her native village in order to attend the funeral of a former lover. The clash between her origins and the Westernized life she now leads is explored in telling detail against the backdrop of current events in Algeria. A work that combines insight into both political and personal matters, "The Forbidden Woman" develops a complex portrait of a country torn between progress and prejudice, secular life and Islamic fundamentalism.

In this passionate book, Malika Mokeddem places special emphasis on the position of women in modern Algeria. The frequent indignities and injustices suffered by the narrator reflect the plight of women in a society marked by patriarchalism and religious fundamentalism. Yet the novel also suggests that, along with modernization, there are emerging demands for women's rights in Algeria--demands that might well signal a vastly different future for this tormented nation.

Born in 1877 in Geneva, Switzerland, Isabelle Eberhardt became a rebel at an early age, dressing like a man so she could have access to areas forbidden to women, smoking in public, and otherwise scandalizing Genevan society. Already multilingual, she studied the Arabic language and Islamic culture and eventually converted to Islam. Eberhardt traveled throughout North Africa, wrote about her experiences, and married an Algerian. Her legendary, short, and stormy life included subversive political anarchism, the mysticism of Islam, numerous love affairs, and, most importantly, writing unmatched by her contemporaries.
The merit of Eberhardt's writings, similar to that of many artists, was neither known nor valued until after her death. The companion to volume 1, "Writings from the Sand, Volume 2," showcases the prose of one of the twentieth century's most fascinating female wanderers and includes previously unpublished stories and an unfinished novel. This new volume exemplifies Eberhardt's creation of identity in fiction as her writing explores the world of prostitutes, Bedouins, and French colonists in exotic tales of love and conquest.