A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life

Born into a distinguished Arab-American family and raised amid privilege, Lisa Halaby was in the first co-ed freshman class at Princeton, graduating in 1974 with a degree in architecture and urban planning. Then in 1976, she was introduced, on an airport runway, to King Hussein of Jordan, a direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad. In less than two years, she was his wife, Noor al-Hussein, Queen of Jordan.

With eloquence and candour, Noor talks frankly of the many challenges of her life as a wife and partner to the monarch, providing both an intimate portrait of the late King Hussein and his quest for peace in the Middle East, and a moving account of the demands his public role as world statesman placed on the royal couple’s private life.

Sharing a personal perspective on the past three decades of world history, A Leap of Faith highlights Queen Noor’s views on Islam & the West; the challenges of rearing her family; her work as Queen and humanitarian activist; and her struggles to protect her husband as he slipped into illness. It is refreshingly candid and clear-eyed, a true love story set against the turbulent politics of the last 30 years.