Girls of Riyadh - Softcover

Alsanea, Rajaa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014103601X ISBN 13: 9780141036014

Publisher: Penguin

Synopsis

A bold new voice from Saudi Arabia spins a fascinating Scheherazade-like tale of four young women attempting to navigate the narrow straits between love, desire, fulfillment, and Islamic tradition-for the first time, the hidden world of today's upper-class Saudi women is revealed by an insider.

About this title

About the Author:

Rajaa Alsanea grew up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the daughter of a family of doctors. She currently lives in Chicago, where she is pursuing a degree in endodontics. Rajaa intends to return to Saudi Arabia after attaining her degree. She is twenty-five years old, and this is her first novel.

From AudioFile:

This is chick lit with a major difference: It gives us four upper-class Saudi girlfriends who hope for true love and fulfilling marriage just as much as Elizabeth Bennet ever did--but in a very modern cultural setting far more confining as to womens power over their own futures than eighteenth-century England ever was. As social history it is fascinating. The translation from Arabic seems fluent; the author has provided many necessary footnotes explaining cultural semiotics (dress, accents, food, worship) whose import the non-Saudi reader would miss. Kate Reading handles these gracefully, and her Arabic pronunciation is confidence-inspiring. Best, she delivers believable, sympathetic characters and keeps the pot on the boil. This book is an eye-opener. B.G. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• ISBN 10: 014103601X
• ISBN 13: 9780141036014
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320