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 Some argue this novel is too simplistic and voyeuristic even. I would have to agree, but what were we expecting? Bear in mind that Al Sanea is a regular Saudi citizen held back behind a veil centuries old. Here is a young mind dealing with the clashing of rock-hard traditions and the social concepts of the postmodern world. Saudi literature is in its infancy, if not in the womb still. Jean Sasson’s series of novels about a Saudi princess are far more revolutionary, but I would credit Raja’a Al Sanea with a breakthrough piece of Saudi romance/pop literature.

It’s an easy read, so expect to finish it in one sitting on your lounge hours. It tells of stories of 4 Saudi girls quietly wrestling with the norms and dicta of an ultra-conservative society, but I would say there’s a fifth girl. Umm Nuwayyir is technically a support character and a much older woman, but it is she who made most of the girls’ escapades possible.

Lamees was the best of them all. She knew what she wanted and how to get it. She did not settle for less. But could we also call it luck that Niraz (the man who becomes her husband) made his move in the nick of time? A relationship, after all, has two sides and often more.

The novel does not reveal who the narrator is, but my guess is Lamees, in love with Niraz the poet - the rare gem of a man. She did not elaborate about this couple as much as she did with the others, drawing them in that perfect, ideal state. Perhaps she wanted to ensure her identity remains hidden or perfect in her friends’ sights (those who knew her as the writer). There is also a little hint that she’s Sadeem with an acknowledgement to a deceased father at the end of the novel. Or has she split herself in two? The one settling for Tariq (Sadeem’s cousin) and the one ending with the perfect Niraz?

At any rate, I may be Michelle, either feeling too smart when it comes to men and relationships or simply too proud to be hurt or made a fool of. Not that any of the few men I seriously felt attracted to could count as Faisal-like love-of-my-life. Someone thinks I’m just afraid of being hurt. Maybe, but as I see it, I simply DO NOT want to be hurt. The idea of pain causes repulsion, not fear. If I know how to avoid it, why shouldn’t I?

As for Gamrah, I have no pity for her. Why suffer for a man who made it clear he didn’t want you? It is good that she moved on with her life, engaging in business and not pouring any bitterness on the boy who had no fault on whatever happened between her and estranged husband Rashid.

I have respect for Rashid though. Surely he was weak to give in to an arranged marriage against his will, but he corrected that by divorcing Gamrah and choosing instead to be with Kari, his long-time girlfriend.

Faisal was the really weak one, although not completely the jerk Waleed was. Firas wanted to correct his mistake too, the best way he knew how - to take Sadeem as his second wife - but Sadeem was already too proud for that. I would have respected Sadeem just the same. If it was her self-respect on the line, then her choice of Tariq is fine, putting aside our scientific knowledge about the genetic effects of incest, of course.

Now that I’ve thought about it, my new set of friends in Dubai have their own battles in the field of so-called love. Definitely a lot different from that of the girls of Riyadh. I wonder now how their stories will unfold… these girls of dubai or the K5 girls as I call them.

Another book from Guia’s invisible shelf…welcome Hotel Babylon.

Although I did not find this novel to be as hilarious as Air Baylon, it is another fun read worth adding to your list. In fact, it is worthy enough to have been turned to a BBC series! 

The most shocking of the tales I’ve found include the turd in the middle of the bed and the slaughtered lamb. My father, who worked for almost two decades in Saudi Arabia, attests the Arabs like buying live sheep and slaughtering it themselves. I just could not believe they’d care to do it in a five-star hotel in London!

Woe to you if you fall in any of the hotel guest stereotypes mentioned in the novel.  Are you the Nutter Woman?  the Dressing Gown Man?  the Celebrity? the Pervert? the Japanese? the Texan? the Arab? There are loads of guest types that make/unmake a hotel staff’s day. A reader can only laugh so hard and be amazed at hotel employees’ patience and resilience. 

For the few instances I’ve stayed in hotels, I can only be thankful I did not find myself depicted in the book. 

Equally crazy are the well-described hotel staff characters, from the Manager down to the Cleaners. Real world employees in the hotel industry will either laugh or cry once they see themselves in print. 

Karen, who used to work for a hotel in the Philippines, confirms the veracity of the tales set within hotel walls.  I can only shudder at the book’s blurb of truth:

The rich spend obscene amounts of money, the hotel makes obscene amounts of money and the chambermaids still fight the bellboys over a two-pound coin.

If only books such as these can serve as even a bit of an eye-opener for guests and staff alike, perhaps we’ll see better behavior next time we check in to a hotel.