Funny and tragic, Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea is a beautifully-written novel about the lives of the young people of Saudi Arabia, a world that has, up to now, been a mystery.
Every week after Friday prayers, an email circulates among a group of female subscribers to an online chat group. Over the course of a year, the realities of four university students from Riyadh’s elite classes, Gamrah, Michele, Sadeem and Lamees, are revealed.
Living in a society with strict cultural traditions while Sex and the City, dating and sneaking around behind their parents’ backs consume their lives, these four young girls face numerous social, romantic, professional and sexual tribulations.
Girls of Riyadh presents a rare and unforgettable insight into the complicated lives of these young Saudi women, whose amazing stories are unfolding in a culture so very different from our own. Girls of Riyadh is available in airport edition paperback, at 18.50 euros.
