SAUDI ARABIA: a luminous portrait of life in the desert

1960s Saudi Arabia. Author Kim Barnes has phenomenally captured the feel of the Kingdom of that period, all set in the wider context of the political world stage. Women still haven't found a voice, even more so in the artificial life that is the compound of ex-pat life. This is a woman's life of drinks parties, filling time, secret drinnking and interminable boredom. But it's not enough for Mrs Gin McPhee.

Gin comes from a very poor background in Oklahoma and through her marriage to Mason her horizons broaden. They move to the Aramco processing facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia (the plant and location are for real) and it is here she eventually finds her calling as a photographer. Although she clearly has talent, she is thwarted by censorship, which photos can and can't be published, and indeed some photos could ultimately lead to deportation. It is a risky business. Life is regulated for foreigners and particularly foreign women. Her husband spends many days away at the facility and so she socialises with other American women, and builds a friendship with one woman in particular, Ruthie, who shows her the ropes. She also builds relationships with her houseboy Yash, her husband's driver and an Italian photographer in an attempt to manage her bored frustration. These relationships are intriguing, although they seem to develop too easily and too quickly in this artificial world in the desert.

The novel starts like an airplane landing - it really hits the tarmac running - and then gradually taxis its way along the runway to its end, an ultimately rather unfulfilling conclusion. 


It is nevertheless rich in detail about life in the country and about ex-pat life in particular, some of which still holds true today. Nothing can sum up how  the locale is portrayed like the words of the author herself on her blog: Set against the gorgeously etched landscape of a country on the cusp of enormous change, In the Kingdom of Men abounds with sandstorms and locust swarms, shrimp pedlars, pearl divers, and Bedouin caravans - a luminous portrait of life in the desert.

And wherever in the world you pick up your copy of the book, the cover is a delightful reflection of the era of the late 1960s. A refreshing change from the more typical books set in Saudi Arabia, which loudly announce the setting through the prolific use of the niqab, a trifle formulaic, I feel. If Windmill Books (publishers of In the Kingdom of Men) can produce a simple, clear and lovely cover, so can other publishing houses.  We have brought together just a little collage to underpin this observation...

Tina and the TripFiction Team

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Sharaf "Honour" in SAUDI ARABIA

Sharaf by Raj Kumar set in Saudi Arabia

Sharaf  - ‘Honour’ -  is about a topic we have become familiar with over years. A father has promised his unborn daughter in marriage to his friend’s son. Farhan, the Father and Maryam, the daughter, have a very close relationship. Maryam is intelligent, inquisitive and independent, but respects her father’s promise and accepts what will happen. She is prepared to be a good daughter and give up hope of extending her education or travelling to different places to marry a man she does not know.

But Maryam meets someone, she falls in love, it is forbidden love. The religious police, Mutawa, become interested in the situation and the rest is as you would expect.

But there is more to this book. The story is explicit about how men treat women, in particular non Islamic women, for their own pleasure; the lack of respect for marriage if a male child is not produced, a younger wife is installed. There is terrorism, drug trafficking, torture and illegal holding of prisoners. There is also the surprising behaviour of two young Saudi Arabian women.

I read this book quickly, it is an easy read.  I was irritated by having to keep turning to the Glossary at the front of the book for the translation of words in Arabic used in the text; it disrupted the flow. However, a different way of looking at it was that authenticity is introduced and some of the words did become familiar after a while.

I was surprised by my reaction to this book.  The terrorism, torture and treatment of other people left me feeling a little angry. There is a lack of respect for others and no value put on the lives of others, be it about their views, their nationality or their beliefs. Why should I be surprised? We know about this, but this book really emphasised it to me.

However, it does not end there.  Another secret eventually emerges which explains the background to a relationship between the Mothers of the betrothed. Is there a happy ending? Well I’m not going to give anything away.

Thank you to our Guest Blogger, Ann Reddy for reviewing this novel. For more novels to delve into the Saudi world, click here (and yes, many of the books set in Saudi Arabia have a cover with a pair of womens' eyes, peaking out from behind the niqab... )