While I was in Ahmedabad, I had the opportunity of going to one of my favourite places, where I have spent many a quiet Sunday afternoon – the Landmark store. It was there that I saw and picked up this book called Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea. I first read about this book on Divya’s blog, and thought it had a really interesting storyline.

Girls of Riyadh is a story of four girlfriends living in Riyadh – Sadeem, Michelle, Gamrah and Lamees. The story is told in the form of a set of e-mails sent out by an anonymous person to members of a particular Riyadhi group. The sender later identifies herself as a friend of the four girls, but does not reveal her true identity. The story revolves around the relationships and break-ups and heart-breaks of the four friends, at the same time bringing to light the conservative culture of Riyadh as well as the mentality of the society. In other words, the book is about ‘life behind the veil’.

In spite of the serious storyline, the book has the chick-lit element to it and is quite an easy read. The writing style is unique and quite simple. I found myself shocked at some parts of it, and laughing away at others. All in all, I found it a rather OK-ish book. Somehow, I couldn’t find myself growing attached to the book, as I usually do.

Why don’t you check this one out? You might like it better than I did.

If you have already read this book, do drop in with your feedback on it. Would love to know.

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My rating: 2 stars

I read this book for the OT ‘09 Challenge. The stopover this time was at Saudi Arabia.

The countdown: 7 down, 3 more to go! :)

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