Rajaa Abdallah Al-Sana'e's debut novel resonates beyond the confines of the claustrophobic Saudi society it depicts, writes Hala Sami Rajaa Abdallah Al-Sana'e, Banat Al-Riyadh (Daughters of Riyadh). Beirut: Dar Al-Saqi, 2005 Rajaa Abdallah Al-Sana'e was born in 1981 and graduated from the University of King Saud, Riyadh, in 2005, having majored in dentistry. Her recently published novel, Banat Al-Riyadh (Daughters of Riyadh), presents a social critique of the Saudi upper class from the point of view of a young woman, the narrator, who reveals her friends' mostly unfortunate experiences with the opposite sex. Like many Middle-Eastern women of their age, about to graduate or having just graduated, the narrator's four friends dream of meeting Prince Charming, of falling in love and living happily ever after. Such dreams of love and marriage, though, must avoid being wrecked on the harrowing ordeals that take these young women to the edge of despair. The disappointments of the young women, and their manner of coping with their torments, are vividly delineated by Al-Sana'e. While Al-Sana'e engages with social issues that touch upon the lives of Saudi women, they offer a reflection of similar issues in other Middle-Eastern societies, among them Egypt; the author holds up a mirror to a severely patriarchal society, directing a sharp-tongued criticism at what she sees. The title, which refers to a specific social circle in the Saudi capital, also contains a play on the word ryadh, which in Arabic also carries the connotation of "garden" in the plural form rud, most particularly a heavenly garden. It is a wordplay that lends the title an ironic touch; her heroines are expected to be infallible, angels as it were, but instead are simply human, vulnerable and are likely to be sinful. The novel is framed by a series of e-mails, each chapter headed with the subject of a message from the correspondence that takes place between the narrator and members of a Yahoo group. The principal narrator is also a "daughter of Ryadh", who takes it upon herself to unravel the gossip surrounding her friends' various involvements with men. The Yahoo group, seereh wenfadha7et (a scandal disclosed), a play on the Lebanese talk show "Seereh wenfata7et" ("Opening the Subject"), becomes the vehicle through which the narrator discloses the gossip circulating around her immediate social circle. Among the subject-titles are "Waleed and Sadeem: A Story from Contemporary Saudi Literature," "A Society Soaked in Contradictions," and "Patience Is the Key to... Marriage." In addition, each chapter begins with a quotation that sheds light on what follows. The narrator quotes verses from the Quran, as well as lines from writers including Tawfiq El-Hakim, Anis Mansour and, most frequently, Nizar Qabbani, the Syrian poet who boldly pointed a finger at outdated Arab social mores. The opening chapter, for example, begins with a Quranic verse -- "Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they [first] change that which is in their hearts" (Quran, 13: 11) -- that serves as a prologue to the whole novel. In the course of the novel the narrator shares new pieces of news concerning the protagonists, while members of the Yahoo group betray their curiosity for more information or else comment on the course of events. This traffic in gossip ends with what is called in Islam kaffaret al-majlis, an "expiation of gossip", words usually uttered as a plea asking God's forgiveness for participating in gossip. The narrator finds it convenient to end her correspondence with the Yahoo group on such a note, providing her novel with a "pious" framework which serves to focus her criticisms on the double standards prevalent in Saudi society. The opening chapter also presents a poem by Nizar Qabbani, which outlines the writer's own modus operandi: I will write about my friends In each one of their stories, I see my self, A tragedy, like my own. I will write about my friends, About the prison that absorbs The prisoners' lives, About desires, In their cradle, slain About the Great Cell, With its black walls, And about thousands, Thousands of women martyrs, Buried without names In the grave of tradition The poem laments the predicament of women who innocently and voluntarily long for love and a happy-ever-after destiny but are deceived by indifferent men who are themselves no more than puppets within the rigid framework of tradition, male paradigms shackled by worn-out social values. The poem reinforces the feminist tone adopted by Al-Sana'e's principal narrator, who encourages women to use their wiles to emerge victorious in the "battle of the sexes". Yet while the author provides a substantial beginning for the novel and whets the appetite to continue, the reader's interest is not maintained at the same level, fluctuating throughout the text. The feminist undertones are diluted towards the second half of the book, when the author leads one of her heroines to use her wiles in order to get married. Despite her aversion to the values of Riyadh society, Al-Sana'e does not appear to be offering her heroines more positive alternatives. The young women are still unable to perceive of any destiny beyond the hearth. The text is replete with phrases in Saudi dialect, which sometimes causes the language to be opaque for non-Saudi readers. A glossary of such phrases at the end of the book would have been useful. In addition, the characters' conversations are often permeated with English phrases, understandable given the informal language of e-mail messages, such as "so vulgar", "they are mentally twisted," "suspense," "cool" and so on. But they are written in Arabic letters, which leads to difficulty in deciphering them, a problem that footnotes in English would have overcome. Al-Sana'e is beginning on the path of her literary career. Daughters of Ryadh is her first literary production, and it is a good start. To learn more about the author and her novel, you can visit her website at www.rajaa.net
