Customer Reviews
Saudi Sex and the City - By: Sofia, 21 Aug 2008 
Alsanea's novel takes the form of a series of emails publicising the adventures of the writer's friends in their search for love. Following the fates & foibles of four women (Gamrah, Lamees, Sadeem & Michelle) in their quest for Mr Right, the format is not dissimilar to the infamous Sex & the City series: it's funny with four very different heroines. However, this is set in the affluent families of Saudi Arabia, so despite education, wealth & experience of life abroad these are nonetheless women imprisoned by the peculiar social formalities of Saudi society. So, behind every weak or ignorant man there is almost always a stronger more competent woman trapped by his actions & therein lies the tragedy that stops this being a funny book. You read every page grateful that you don't live in Saudi Arabia.
It's a hugely illuminating book, showing women in Saudi as real women with real aspirations & desires, & a good way of destroying the image of Saudi women as simply compliant shadows to the men in their lives. It also serves as a testament to the perils of socialised mysogyny. My one reservations was that the email format of the book (which alllows each chapter to begin with a discussion about emails supposedly received in response to the previous installlment) slightly detracted from the power of the story as a whole. Nonetheless, a good read.
Suffragettes of Saudi - By: MaryAnne, 05 Jul 2008 Along with Khaled Hosseini's 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', this book was a 'must-read' in Dubai last Summer. Everyone was talking about it & alll the book groups were reading it.
We meet four young Saudi women from very wealthy backgrounds. They are determined to break from tradition & marry for love, but their plans seem constantly thwarted. In a class driven society it is impossible to cross the barriers, the wrong name, or region of Saudi, can doom a match from the start, & families always seem to have the final say.
I felt for these women, who are fighting for the freedom that they see their sisters in the West enjoying, while at the same time they are true to their Islamic beliefs & try to respect the restrictions imposed by their religion.
What bothered me most was that having read 'Princess' by Jean Sasson, written nearly 20 years ago, I was concerned that some girls, from more traditional families, might be encouraged to follow in their footsteps, possibly resulting in imprisonment or even honour killings. Whilst some families might alllow more freedom, I'm sure there are others who still maintain the old traditions.
I found it interesting, though not riveting.
Readers who have read it in Arabic as well as English, claim it has lost something in the translation.
Saudi Chick-Lit!! - By: Countess Olenska, 17 Jun 2008 This book reallly is good. It blasts away alll those stereotypes of Saudi women leading miserable, loveless lives with absolutely no freedom. The four main characters in this book have varying opinions about how a woman should live her life & what's important. They also have goals, ambition & desires - like women in the west, although it's different with an eastern twist to it.
Of course the four main characters in the book have a difficult time finding love & without doubt they are to some extent under the control of the men in their families, but along the way they manage to meet & flirt with men, have boyfriends & even have some physical contact with them. It's just the way they do things over there is different from the way it's alll done in the west.
But it isn't any the less passionate for that.
The four girls Lamees, Gamrah, Sadeem & Michelle manage to find their men outside a shopping malll, at work, among their relatives & abroad & they have real relationships with them. OK a lot of the relationship is conducted on mobile telephones, but that's as good a way as any to get to know someone properly - after alll you are still talking to them.
I realise that these women who are from the Saudi "velvet" class - the rich elite, (though not the Royal family) are quite priviledged & not necesarily representative of alll Saudi women. But it's nice to see them as real human beings & not just silent shrouded people.
