Jean Sasson grew up in a small town in Alabama. After attending a small college in Alabama she worked in the medical field as an Administrative Coordinator in Eufaula, Alabama and then in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Her writing career began in 1991 with her New York Times bestseller, The Rape of Kuwait.

When she was 30 years old, Jean Sasson began a lifetime of adventure and travel that has taken her to 65 countries. She has traveled to every Middle Eastern country. In 1978, she traveled abroad to work at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where she worked as Administrative Coordinator for Medical Affairs.  Jean now makes her home in the Southern United States but she remains a global traveler, visiting at least two Middle Eastern countries each year.

Jean is an established writer and lecturer. She is the author of best-selling non-fiction books on the Middle East, including: The Rape of Kuwait; Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia; Princess Sultana’s Daughters; Princess Sultana’s Circle; Mayada, Daughter of Iraq; and Love in a Torn Land: Joanna of Kurdistan, Growing up Bin Laden, and For the Love of a Son. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed historical fiction, Ester’s Child. Jean’s books are required reading in many high schools and colleges. Sasson is regularly consulted by print and electronic mass media in the USA and Europe for her first-hand knowledge of Middle East culture and politics.