I can’t remember which Google Search brought up Girls of Riyadh for me, but as soon as I saw it..and that it had been banned in Saudi, well, you know me, I totally HAD TO HAVE IT.

That and it was guaranteed to get a rise out of the Fella. I like piquing his interest, and my tendency to read what he might consider controversial literature seems to interest him.

Girls of Riyadh is written as a series of e-mails to a Yahoo! Groups listing that sends out weekly emails telling the stories of four young Saudi Women and the ups and downs of life, and love. Mostly love, and mostly downs.

It’s a fascinating story. The cultural differences are amazing, and to an American like me, raised liberally, and accustomed to making my own decisions, and not being restricted from seeing and talking to who I want when I want, the story of boys posting signs in their car windows with their phone numbers astounds me still. Or the idea of being arrested for wearing red on Valentine's day. Or Versace Shimaughs (The red and white checkered head covering that Saudi men wear).

Rajja Alsanea is the author, and is certainly still young, but impressive in her translated version of her first novel. It’s been compared to Sex and the City of Saudi; but it’s nowhere near as graphic. And the tragedies are pretty tragic. It’s a quick read, and a smart one.

And it sparked enough interest that the Fella is borrowing it now. I’ll be very interested to see what he thinks of it.