Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating look at a nation and its' people.
Review: This is not an autobiogpraphy of Lisa Halaby who today, is Queen Noor. It's a bit detached and "careful," to be an autobiography, but that's OK. "Leap of Faith" paints kind and previously unseen pictures of the people of Jordan and reveals a side of Arabic culture that we in the West are too seldom presented. This book can provide the reader with interesting insights into the people and culture of Jordan, and well as some things on the life and thoughts of Queen Noor, who'se had quite a unique life. After graduating from college in 1974, Lisa Halaby, an American of Arabic decsent went traveling to see and experience different people from different cultures of the world. She then began working in the aviation field in Jordan. She met King Hussein. In 1978 they were married. She's performed several truly altruistic acts, such as providing rural Jordanian schools in poor areas with computers, to students who so desperately want to learn about them to enhance their skills. This is one deed among many. She's created, enhanced, and implemented programs concerning women and children's welfare, the environment, health, Jordanian archaeological projects, the Land Mine eradication. "Leap of Faith" is about an interesting life, and an interesting culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Moving, a contribution of great proportions.
Review: Once in awhile a book comes along that does make change. This book is a true enlightenment for many. We have ideas as to what goes on in the Arab world, but this clearly sets the record straight. I cannot emphasize the importance of needing to read this if you are one who has any interest or concern covering this huge reality. From King Hussien's vision as to what a womans role is to the rest of the region, to what this woman was able to move forward with. This gives us insight as to what is in fact possible with proper diplomacy and extreme diligence. What I cannot convey more of is how this book seriously applies to all of us and especially in this current time of war in Iraq. There is application in this book which is of incredible intellect and insight. Women are in fact a huge influence in the area if these women know how to get into position and pass the message continually. I highly recommend this along with another book which covers this same exact effort in the Arab world and how women are desperately needed to get fearlessly involved, title is SB 1 or God by Karl Maddox.
Rating:
Summary: An Engrossing Read
Review: An enlightening and engrossing read by Queen Noor Al-Hussein of Jordan! Telling the stories of how she met her future husband, her reforms in palace life, and the many accomplishments she made as a very revered and respected woman who improved women's lives in Jordan. This autobiography was surprisingly very well-written and very interesting, something you don't find too much today. However, all of the more than 700 pages kept me interested and engrossed in Queen Noor's story. A delightful read and a bestseller for many months to come, I recommend this book to all royalty fans and anyone looking for a good read. Stolen Lives would be an exceptional recommendation to purchase along with this autobiography.
Rating: 
Summary: Cold and unrevealing
Review: This book is a disappointment. To call it an autobiography is misleading, since Queen Noor offers no genuine intimacy or personal revelation. The text is aloof and guarded and amateurish. I'll wait for a serious biography.
Rating:
Summary: A one-sided insulting attack on Americans
Review: This woman is so revoltingly anti-American and so insulting to Americans that I would not give her your money to buy it. If you must read it, get it for free at a library.
Rating:
Summary: What an enlightening read!
Review: I bought the book thinking I was going to read a love story between two people, instead, I found a book that was a love story between a woman and a country. Now that we are about to go to war, I cannot recommend this book enough--how wonderful to learn about the generous, intelligent and creative side of the Arab world rather than thinking all Arabs are terrorists or that all Arabs hate Americans. A must read for our times!
Rating:
Summary: Sustained Optimism
Review: Little did I know that the autobiography of an American who married an Arab monarch would be a lesson in enduring love and ceaseless diplomacy in the Middle East. Queen Noor's Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life provided another window in which to view the internecine politics that have embroiled the region for over sixty years. I now more fully understand why King Hussein of Jordan was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize after reading about his untiring and unremitting efforts to obtain peace in the region and just treatment for Palestinians. Queen Noor, his third wife with whom he shared twenty years of marriage, also has been a formidable leader in the world, principally for her cultural and humanitarian contributions globally. Born Lisa Halaby in the United States, Queen Noor assumed her position of royalty at the age of twenty-six. She developed a superb work ethic that blended her excellent educational background, her work experience as architect, and diplomacy learned as she matured as the wife of a head of state in a volatile time. Leap of Faith provides balance in our understanding of the multinational conflict which continues to rage.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable read - but I wouldn't call it a biography
Review: I picked up "A Leap of Faith" in Victoria (Canada) last summer. I was really looking forward to reading this book as it was a two-in-one for me. I find the Middle Eastern culture fascinating, and I love biographies.
In short, born in America in 1951 as Lisa Halaby, Queen Noor came from a well-connected, wealthy family and she was part of the first class of women attending Princeton University. Lisa meets the King through her father whom works in aviation. After a very short courtship (weeks rather than months), Lisa marries King Hussein, 15 years her senior.
In "A Leap of Faith" Queen Noor speak of the obstacles she faced as a naive young bride, how she had to adjust to a loss of privacy, palace life, new faith, the resistance from Hussein's children from previous marriages, and the struggle to create a role for herself in a society where the only expectation was that she would keep the King happy.
I find Queen Noor's story very interesting, so it is a shame that she does not "open up" more in this book. I would have liked the book to include more detail on her personal life.
I never got the feeling that I "knew" her, got a sense of who she is, which is usually what I feel when I read a biography, be it biographies over Malcolm X, President Carter, Hillary Clinton - to name a few.
This book was quite different from what I expected. I expected to read about Queen Noor, instead I got more than a fair share of politics, stories about the Kings, and the history of Jordan. The Middle East fascinates me, and I have read a few books on the topic. Althought I am no expert, I cannot help but feel that her views expressed in this book on the Middle East, conflicts, who's to blame or not etc are biased and one-sided.
It's an enjoyable read, but I wouldn't call it Queen Noor's biography. Like one reader said "If it wasn't for the picture of her on the cover, one could mistake this for being the King's memoirs.
Rating:
Summary: A personal account lacking in historical perspective
Review: I picked up this book in hope of understanding the Arab perspective on the much maligned and troubled middle-east. I started with an open mind which gradually eroded to disillusionment and eventually utter disbelief. Queen Noor writes that western accounts glorifying T.E. Lawrence (see film Lawrence of Arabia) portray Arabs as primitive. She remarks that this has angered many Arabs. Yet, she responds by writing an account which is guilty of similar distortions. In my view, she has harmed Arab credibility in her effort to establish it.
Jordan is a poor country, of about 5 million people, near or bordering sometimes aggressive or troubled neighbors: Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and (what will hopefully someday be) Palestine and Israel. 30% of the people live below the poverty level (2001 estimate). The monarchy is not Palestinian, but rules over a Palestinian majority. All this adds up to a very tenuous power base which King Hussein deftly managed. Many see him less as an idealist fighting for Palestinian rights and peace than a pragmatist using the Palestinian problem and the peace process as a tool to remain in power. Queen Noor describes not who her husband was in total, but the man who she wants the world to remember.
King Hussein was ruler of the Palestinian territories, now occupied/administered by the Israelis, until the 1967 war. He could have given them their own independent state at that time, but he did not. It makes one wonder about his true motivations.
The book is continually critical of Israel, sometimes to the point of being ridiculous. One example is how the Queen justifies Syria's bombing of Israel's northern border in 1967 because Israelis were farming in a demilitarized zone. This may have been a provocation, but perhaps instead of escalating the military situation, the Syrians should have responded by farming the fallow land on their side.
The book is, at times, critical of Yassir Arafat. It raises questions about his integrity, methods and motivations. Yet the book offers little insight into why the Palestinians embraced Arafat when he delivered so little to them.
One of the great shortcomings of the book is in the way that she writes about Black September. In the years after 1967, Yassir Arafat essentially attempted a coup in Jordan. The PLO was establishing a state within a state and no less than 500 violent clashes occurred between Palestinian guerillas and Jordanian forces in 1968-69. The situation escalated into a declaration of martial law in September 1970. In the period that followed, Jordanian forces attacked the PLO headquarters in Amman and the Palestinian refugee camps in Irbid, Salt, Sweileh and Zarqa. After initial casualties, the government forces resorted to indiscriminate shelling. Death tolls range from several hundred to several thousand. Arafat and the PLO were expelled from Jordan and set-up operations amid the growing chaos in Lebanon. None of this is mentioned in Queen Noor's oblique reference to Black September. She focuses mainly on her husband's personal internal struggle.
This event raises so many significant questions. Who is the legitimate ruler of Jordan - a country with a Palestinian majority? How should governments respond to militant organizations? After Black September, should we continue to believe that Jordan was working for the good of the Palestinians? If so, which Palestinians? In light of Black September, does Jordan have the right to condemn Israel's treatment of Palestinian militants and civilians?
Why do many in the Arab world focus so much attention on Israel's transgressions while refraining from questioning Arab governments?
The Queen fails to offer information, analysis or perspective other than a sanitized account which simplistically idealizes the King and supports and justifies his actions. "Leap of Faith" is her personal story, but it offers little to critical thinkers who wish to advance their understanding of the Middle East.
Rating:
Summary: A new perspective
Review: It was fascinating to read the story of an American woman becoming a middle eastern queen and her enduring love for King Hussein. However this is much more than a love story. Queen Noor provides a unique view of the Palistinian - Israeli conflict and the Arab view of Americans. She communicates this without being preachy or judgmental, with an understanding of both the Arab and American worlds.
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