Verily never will Allah change a people's condition until they change it themselves (with their own souls) (Surat Al-Ra'd: 11)

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea tells the love stories of four young Saudi girls, Lamees, Michelle (half Saudi, half American), Gamrah, and Sadeem in the form of emails. Originally released in Arabic in 2005, Girls of Riyadh was immediately banned in Saudi Arabia due to controversial and inflammatory content. Black-market copies of the novel circulated and the daring originality of Girls of Riyadh continues to create a firestorm all over the Arab world and has been a bestseller across much of the Middle East.


I find the Girls of Riyadh entertaining and is worth every bit of my RM65.95 for its (a la chic lit) simplicity and eye-opening details of the girls of Riyadh. I must say that I definitely will never look at a Saudi the same way again!