Book Notes on Saudi
The first book, Surreal in Saudi will be released in bookstores, September 2008. The sequel, Awry in Arabia, will be out next year. The first novel discusses the Saudi prison system , some cultural practices and takes you into the palace of a prominent royal family. While living and working in Saudi, I had the opportunity to care for two prominent royal family memebers. The two households were run differently, and the book notes the goings on in one of the palaces. The second novel describes the way in which most ruling royals behave towards others. They may have fostered a more regal attitude toward life, but often I felt sorry for the strict ways in which the royals live. When visualizing royalty and privilege, we often picture grandiose life styles with the richest of the rich not having a care in the world. Although it is true they do not suffer the same daily existence as we ''mere mortals" , boredom is their mainstay. For those wealthy princesses, their daily life is highly structured. With staff doing all they can to pamper their employer, the princesses have little to challenge them on any level--mentally or physically. They aren't permitted to assist in the running of the country, and the hardest tasks that befell them are the running of their households and managing their servants. The first book notes the diversity behind palace walls. While the Princess is being lavished with care and attention, many of her servants suffer. I doubt very much this Princess was even aware of the slaves hidden in her dark damp basement, and who, as described in the novel, were abused and used to satisfy the men's sexual needs. Princess Linyaa, as described in Surreal in Saudi, had a good heart, and was concerned about the starving people in her country. She often wanted to donate money to help those less fortunate, but her servants, being the greed-filled, self-serving individuals they were, would take the donations, and keep the money for themselves. No one would ever know…the Princess was blind, and trusted these powerful and manipulating women. The book delves into how her servants embezzled funds from her, networked with people throughout the Arab world, and discusses the 'Arab brotherhood". Awry in Arabia, the sequel, this book notes the power of some royals. It also delves into the lives of Westerners in the country, their woes and the trouble they create for themselves.
Surreal in Saudi , a fast-paced action adventure fiction based on fact, is available now through the publisher's bookstore . As the book notes, it is not a pleasant story. How can it be when there is so much human suffering and abuse? The novel gives its readers good and accurate insight into the hidden world of Saudi Arabia.
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