Girls of Riyadh

I came across this book through Crosswords’ best books list, and after months of waiting I finally found it at one of the Crosswords’ stores. And I don’t regret adding this to my book collection. ’Girls of Riyadh’ is a beautiful story that lets us glimpse into the lives and the exotic culture of the Arabs. The author, Rajaa Al-Sanea narrates the stories of her circle of friends through this book, and this fact isn’t revealed to you until the very end of the book.

An even more interesting snippet on this book is that the stories are narrated in the form of emails that the author sent to her subscriber list on internet over weekends. And this being a controversial story caught the eye of the Arab media including Al-Jazeera, who were less than pleased with the author’s portrayal of the lives of the women in Arab countries. They felt it added to the negative publicity about their countries but their rebuke only raised the status of the book everywhere else! Talk about negative publicity increasing a book’s sale!

The novel describes the lives of 4 Saudi girls who are the best of friends though they hail from different tribes, and are studying at the university in Riyadh. They are Sadeem, Qamrah, Lamees and Mashael, and the novel explores each of their lives in detail. I can’t resist adding a few snippets on these 4 girls here though:

Qamrah – The book starts with Qamrah’s wedding where the girls are introduced to the readers. Qamrah is the most ordinary looking of the lot (as per Arab standards), and her marriage to Rashid is anything but happy. The guy just mocks her all the time and while using her, also has an American-Japanese girlfriend whom he cheats on his wife with. Qamrah’s world shatters though, when Rashid divorces her but she does rebound, and ends up running a catering business with Sadeem.

Sadeem – Sadeem’s tragedy seems to be in the form of being jilted, first by her fiancé Walid who deserts her after they are officially wed, and then by an elite doctor, Firas, whom she falls for in London. What’s even worse is Firas for all the modern outlook he projects refuses to marry her on the grounds of her previous divorce. Sadeem seems to achieve her revenge through her marriage to Tarik, her cousin who is also her secret admirer and supporter in her hardships.

Mashael – Also known as Michelle by her American mom and friends, she is jilted by Faisal who refuses to marry her since his mother doesn’t approve. However, he does woo her for a year, and for what joy I can’t fathom. In any case, she ultimately moves to Dubai with her family and makes a career for herself in one of the TV networks there.

Lamees – She is the only one who possibly had a happy and hassle free ending. She seems to be the pillar of support and adviser to her friends, is focused on becoming a doctor and does achieve this towards the end of the book. She also gets to marry the guy of her choice and they both settle happily in Canada.

Wafi City

When I read this book, the first thought that struck me was that the proverb – ‘The Pen is mightier than the Sword’ is so very true. As a woman, you might not be able to raise your voice out loud but you can certainly strike the establishment through your words/writing. And that is precisely what the author Rajaa Al-Sanea has done with her publication ‘Girls of Riyadh’. It also made me the realize that knowing your heritage in a way is important no matter which part of the globe you belong to or settle down in.

Verdict – A must read, and I liked it a lot to own a copy!