I saw a book on Island Bookstore’s shelf this summer that I had never heard of before, despite the fact that it is an international sensation and was banned in its author’s native Saudi Arabia: Girls of Riyadh by Ranaa Alsanea. It’s a realistic, honest view of four upper class Saudi Women, and was banned in Saudi Arabia for the window it offers into their secular thoughts and activities.
I’ve skimmed through a number of reviews and blog posts about this book. It seems that what’s intriguing about the book is more the glimpse it offers into these otherwise hidden women’s thoughts and feelings, and less the writing of the book itself, which several people have described as "classic chick lit."
From Sazettel blog:
It is, at the very least, a facinating look at an alien culture written by one of the aliens. It is at once highly familiar, and very strange. It is familiar in that we’ve seen the difficulties of finding a husband who will actually care for you in Jane Austen. It’s strange in the ways the young people find to get around the restrictions, and the boon cell phones have been to young men and women who can be arrested if they are so much as seen in public together… Stylistically, it’s not brilliant. That’s partly the usual problems of translation and partly because it was originally written as e-mails. But it does sparkle. It is loaded with personality. The characters are vibrant and vital and very, very human, and do manage to find their own ways.
Here is an interview with Alsanea from Time‘s Middle East blog. One excerpt: "Alsanea: The West got it all wrong. All issues are being raised nowadays. There are a lot of liberals in Saudi Arabia. And there are a lot of traditional conservatives as well. We are trying to live our lives, we are trying to sort our issues between us. That book was a trial to let people to sit and talk about these matters that they were embarrassed to talk about before because they were so sensitive."
This review from WorldHum is worth reading too, as it excerpts some reviews from other publications. It’s generally positive as well.
Has anyone out there read Girls of Riyadh?