When British-born Dr. Qanta Ahmed’s visa in the United States expired some 10 years ago, she made a spur-of-the moment decision to accept a job at one of the top hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The result of her eye-opening and troubling tenure there is her memoir, “In the Land of Invisible Women” (Sourcebooks, $14.99).

Dr. Ahmed will be speaking and signing her book in Anderson on Sunday, Nov. 9 at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Anderson County Library. The program will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the main library.

Born and raised in Great Britain to Pakistani parents, Dr. Ahmed is a Muslim. However, she had not lived in a Muslim country, and found the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia very hard to handle. Her first purchase was a black polyester abbaya, a stifling garment that covered her from hair to toes, allowing only her face to show. Like all women in “the Kingdom” at the time, she was not allowed to drive, eat alone in a restaurant or go out in public unchaperoned.

Among the bizarre things she observed early on was an elderly and very ill Bedouin woman lying naked on an examining table, but whose face was veiled at the insistence of her son, even though the veil got in the way of efforts to treat her.

“This veiling was anathema to me,” she wrote. “Even with a deep understanding of Islam, I could not imagine mummification is what an enlightened, merciful God would ever have wished for half of all His creation. Polyester imprisonment is ungodly and (like the fiber) distinctly man-made.”

The veiling oppressed not only women. One evening, Dr. Ahmed and a group of colleagues and visitors at an international medical conference attended a private dinner at a restaurant. Believing they were safe from prying eyes, the women removed their abbayas. But someone had tipped off members of the Mutawaeen, the Saudi “religious police,” who burst into their dining room, gave all the guests the second degree and arrested the restaurant owner. All of the men at the table lied about their citizenship, and it was only through intervention by a member of the Saudi royal family that they were allowed to leave and return home.

Dr. Ahmed recounts numerous social gatherings, including a garish Saudi wedding and a women-only party where attendees could show off their priceless jewels and designer clothing. She tells a poignant story of visiting a colleague whose five-year-old son was the victim of a typically careless Saudi driver. And she shares her crush on a colleague, one that could go nowhere because of the restrictions on mingling of the sexes. She returned to the U.S. single and now is on the medical staff at the Medical University of South Carolina. Her “Saudi Zhivago” entered an arranged marriage and remains in Riyadh.

One of the most interesting parts of the book, comprising several chapters, was of her first pilgrimage to Mecca. All Muslims are supposed to attempt a pilgrimage, and about 2.5 million a year go during the prescribed days of “Hajj.” Far from a sightseeing trip, it is an arduous time of completing rituals, including sleeping in a tent in the desert, throwing stones and shoes at three pillars symbolizing Satan and sacrificing an animal. Modern accommodations necessary because of the huge crowds are laid out in detail.

Dr. Ahmed’s writing style is on the flowery style, and her descriptions of people, places and things could use some paring down, but the story she shares is fascinating and insightful. I’m sure her talk at the Friends’ meeting will be as well.

Bibliophile Kathryn Smith reviews books regularly for the Independent-Mail.