Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic memoir!
Review: I could not put this book down. It is one of the best autobiographies I have ever read, and has a perfect mixture of fairy tale romance and excitement, and an insightful and fascinating account of historical, social, and political forces in Jordanian, Middle Eastern and ultimately International, affaires. I wished that the book didn't have to end!
Rating: 
Summary: Read This Before You Leap To Buy This Book
Review: I read this book because it was selected by my book discusssion group. I would never had finished it, but for the fact that it was my book discussion group's selection. I never felt that I understood Queen Noor. She was very guarded in what she wrote. I'm sure this has to do with the fact that she lives in Jordan and her children are members of the royal family and possible heirs to the throne. Queen Noor wrote of her devotion to her husband, children, royal relatives and her adopted country Jordan , but I'm sure there must have been some domestic problems. I would think that King's Hussein's children from his previous marriages might have resented Queen Noor. You 'll never know from this book. I never learned what her personality was like. I never got ther sense of who she was and is . There's alot of history presented and that's interesting. I've been to Jordan twice so, I enjoyed reading about places I had visited . Maybe in thirty years time when many of the persons in this memoir are gone we'll learn more information about the reign of Queen Noor . Read this book if you want to learn about politics and history but don't expect to learn much about a person.
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Summary: Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected life by Queen Noor
Review: It Is a great book! How an american women married the king Hussein of Jordania. This book will helps you to understend better the Palestinians, and the problems for to have peace in middle East. You cant put the book down!!
Rating: 
Summary: Your Majesty, all is forgiven.
Review: Queen Noor is more than forgiven for not writing a better book. She is royalty after all, and that better book would have required her to say a few controversial things about her adopted country, or to provide a few intimate details of her marriage to the late King. Her up-close-and-personal vantage point on recent world events is fascinating nonetheless, and her love story is entirely convincing and ultimately moving. And how would I have known that royals sometimes respond to job stress by calling for carry-out and playing video games?
Rating: 
Summary: Self serving historical revisionism
Review: Simply put, self-serving with a heavy dose of historical revisionism. Does the author really believe that the Arab population that largely immigrated in the late 19th century and early 20th were of "Ancient Caananite stock?!" What happened to the 600 thousand Jews (most of the survivors having fled to Israel), and their synagogues and property throughout a totalitarian Arab world where these "Dimis" supposedly "had equal rights" (in the good times, just like African Americans during Jim Crow in the American South.) [I would refer the serious reader to Joan Peterson's FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL (I believe available through Amazon) for a richly-documented historical reality of centuries-old persecution.] Why doesn't the author discuss how her country is 80% of Mandate Palestine cut off by the British, which was banned to Jews, to become the Palestinian Arab state, the remaining 20% (which includes the West Bank) to become the Jewish Palestinian state? With an 80% Palestinian population, is her "Hashemite Kindom" really Arab Palestine, or a true Aparthide state? [Unlike Palestinian Arabs in Jordan, Israeli Arabs get to vote for the country's leaders!] What of the fact that throughout over 20 Arab states, the Palestinians have continually been cruelly manipulated for politics, not even allowed to own land or even build concrete structures in places they've lived in for 3 generations! These are a few of the many countless questions the author neatly avoids while blaming the Jews and Israel for everything under the sun. Propaganda should be given away on street corners as free leaflets -- people should not have to pay good money for it!
Rating:
Summary: Take it with a grain of salt
Review: As I started reading this book, it became apparent in the early chapters that something was amiss. Queen Noor writes of how she agonized over whether to marry Hussein, and then I discover that her courtship lasted only several weeks! She writes about how she thought long and hard about whether to convert to Islam, and how she spent so much time studying, only to find out that she crammed all of this also into a matter of weeks so that she could convert on her wedding day. It was then that I become aware of the difference between how she presented herself and what her actions revealed. This "modern" woman, a Princeton graduate, ultimately became a role model for traditional wives married to husbands in patriarchical societies.That said, why did I continue reading the book to the end? Because I've always had respect for King Hussein as a peacemaker, and I hoped for an opportunity to learn more about Jordan's unique position at the geographical and political center of the Middle East conflict. I knew the book would be biased, but it is not always easy to get the Palestinian point of view in the United States, and there are two sides to every conflict. I am glad I continued to read on. The book provided great insights into the roller coaster ride King Hussein had over his last thirty years, with peace often appearing to be within reach, only to slip away. The Arab reaction to the Camp David accords was very enlightening, as were the various tactics taken by a succession of US presidents. Queen Noor is obviously insecure about her legacy. Now that I've learned about her successor, Queen Rania, who is a powerhouse, I can see why. As an outsider, and an American to boot, Queen Noor was in no position to effect change in the region. She shouldn't pretend that she did. The actions of her late husband, on the other hand, speak for themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Public Relations Memoir falls Flat
Review: I was expecting a REAL insight into her life. Unfortunately what I got was a safe memoir that seemed written by a Public Relations flak rather than Noor herself. I was sorely disappointed. $14.50 wasted. If you must read it, borrow it at the library.
Rating: 
Summary: A moving, thorough memoir
Review: I was really moved by this memoir, mostly by the idea expressed in the title, "an unexpected life." An upperclass Arab-American girl finds herself a queen and in a position to work for the values she's long held in a real and substantive way with a loving, energetic partner. Queen Noor was born in the United States as Lisa Halaby to an Arab-American father and a mother of European descent. Her father was a member of a prominent family (his father had had a long-time luxury business collaboration with Neiman Marcus). Najeeb Halaby had worked with airline companies and was appointed head of the FAA by President Kennedy. Though he adored public service, Najeeb had difficulty sustaining his family's lifestyle on a public servant's salary. The family moved a lot, living in Washington and New York, among other places. Ultimately, Noor's parents split up, but not while she and her siblings were small. Noor was one of the inaugural members of Princeton's first class that admitted women students, where she studied architecture and urban planning.
During college, Noor's political activitism emerged in force, where she expressed distress at the Viet Nam war and the Kent State violence. After college, she went to Iran to work on a large urban planning project in Tehran for the Shah. While there, she saw the growing discontent with the ruling class by the religious groups in the country, but left before the Shah was overthrown.
Through her father, who was advising Jordan on airline issues, then-Lisa Halaby met King Hussein, whose third wife, Alia, had just died in a helicopter crash. Their courtship was swift and Hussein's story was very compelling, which she recounts to the reader as she learned it while spending time with him in Amman and Aqaba. Hussein is a direct descendent of Mohammad and was present when his grandfather, King Abdullah, was shot and killed in front of him. (Hussein was also shot, but was saved when the bullet was deflected by a medal he was wearing on his military uniform at his grandfather's insistence.) Hussein's father didn't reign long due to mental illness. Hussein had been married and divorced from his first two wives, an Arab woman and a British woman (who is the mother of the current King Abdullah) and lost his third wife. He was married to Noor for more than 20 years.
The facts of their lives are compelling, but it's the emotional detail that really rivets the reader. Noor fell in love with Hussein and had four children with him, she converted to Islam and became deeply religious in the tradition of her husband's country (she wasn't legally required to convert; the king was allowed to marry anyone of a monotheistic faith), and got involved in civil and economic and political efforts to better not only the lives of those in Jordan but also in the Arab world. She makes an articulate and impassioned case for understanding the Arab viewpoint and what the history of Imperialism in the region has done for Arabs in the world today. While hopeful that peace can be found with Israel, she lists Israel's moral and political sins, and makes her case convincingly.
This is also a fascinating look at King Hussein, his history, personality and goals. Constantly under threat of assassination and seemingly endlessly routed from his plans for peace, Hussein was almost always optimistic in his hopes for the region.
But more than anything, this is a very moving story of a marriage, and seems to me the story that any happily married woman could write. Noor, who was renamed by her husband when she was married and converted Noor Al Hussein, which means "Light of Hussein," obviously loves and admires her husband, took his goals as her own and found her individual ways of advancing them through rural development and microloan projects, urban planning issues and her architectural expertise. She also calls on her American heritage to boost relationships. She believes in these issues as an Arab woman herself and as a Muslim, but the reader can see how much she and her husband loved each other.
His death from cancer in the end of the book is truly sad as one can see what she -- and the world -- have lost. She writes of his death, "From that moment on, I knew I would never fear death but see it as a chance for reunion." Their deep and fulfilling relationship is the real engine behind the movement and engagement of this book. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Honest Reflections in honor of her Husband
Review: I was captivated by Queen Noor's book and carried it with me everywhere as I read quickly through it. There is a credibity in her memoir as it's genesis was her personal journals which she did not intend on writing for publication. Noor later poured over them along with editors who shaped the book.
I found her honest reflections on her relationship with her husband and her family to be tactfully written, acknowledging that they, like all of us, experience challenges which she indicates at times made her wonder if the whole family would all be better off WITHOUT her. Noor openly discusses her fears in the book and how she struggled with even the idea of seeking counsel of others out of respect for the King. She discusses the challenges of a stepmother stuggling to raise children from Hussein's prior marriages.
Noor is a remarkable woman, who writes of her stengths and her admirable accomplishments such as standing alongside Prince Charles and Nelson Mandela as leaders for United World Colleges International, her work with poverty relief and economic development nad environmental preservation in Jordan,and her representaion of Jordan at the UN in their work on behalf of children as a few examples. I find it interesting to read of the philanthropic work of leaders Noor interacted with.
Noor's dedication and love for Hussein and their children, come through in a manner which is not sugar coated. It takes courage for one in her position to write such an honest memoir, memorializing and honoring her husband King Hussein, and attesting to their love for each other, while acknowledging that the King, like all people, had his weaknesses which challenged their personal relationship (such as his inability to simply listen and empathize with her personal challenges without pesonally comparing them to some political challenge he faced which trivialized her concerns.)
I found it enlightening to read the historical account of Middle Eastern events from Noor's perspective. It was facinating to read of King Hussein's role as mediator in peace negotiations between Arafat and Rabin. I was interested in Noor's insider account of American involvement which is not otherwise refelcted in the media.
Overall, I thought the primary emphasis of Noor's book was on the process of working toward peace in the Middle East and the political dealings she witnessed along side her husband. I felt it appropriate that her memoir focused on Hussein and his legacy of working toward peace, a man who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Note that Queen Noor is donating proceeds from her book to The King Hussein foundation, which is a non profit organizeion in the US and Jordan which has the goals of peace building, sustainable development, and cross cultural understanding through programs that promote peace and democracy,education and leadership, and environment and health.
Rating:
Summary: Poorly Written Memoir
Review: While Queen Noor's story is fascinating, she was unable to account for her life's history without any deep analysis or insight. While glossing over important issues such as: her religion prior to marrying Hussein, why she chose to marry him if she wasn't in love with him, her life now that he is deceased, Queen Noor has provided the reader with 400+ pages of pure romantic fluff and a scathing diatrabe against Israeli and Zionist support. The more I read, the more I detested Queen Noor and her opinions. This book is a prime example of why celebrities should not write, it is amazing that Queen Noor graduated from Princeton. A complete waste of $26.00.
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