Via the internet, an anonymous narrator posts details of the lives and loves of four twenty-something friends from Riyadh's elite velvet class. So chick-lit then, but not as we know it - romantic ambitions are thwarted by rigid Islamic tradition and the tribally dominated Saudi society. Although on the whole a frothy and entertaining read, this book was more thought provoking than I'd envisaged. Girls of Riyadh was banned on publication in Saudi Arabia but went on to become a bestseller across much of the Middle East.
