5 Star
More than two decades after moving to Saudi Arabia and marrying powerful
Abdullah Baylani, American-born Rosalie learns that her husband has
taken a second wife. That discovery plunges their family into chaos as
Rosalie grapples with leaving Saudi Arabia, her life, and her family
behind. Meanwhile, Abdullah and Rosalie’s consuming personal
entanglements blind them to the crisis approaching their
sixteen-year-old son, Faisal, whose deepening resentment toward their
lifestyle has led to his involvement with a controversial sheikh. When
Faisal makes a choice that could destroy everything his embattled family
holds dear, all must confront difficult truths as they fight to
preserve what remains of their world.
Sabrina-Kate - 5 Star
The Ruins of Us brought me into a world that I've often wondered
about but never had the opportunity to discover. Rosalie grew up in
Saudi Arabia as an American ex-pat and then later in college fell in
love with Abdullah and moved back as his wife. Seems simple, right? But
not really.
Saudi Arabia has much different rules for women. No
driving, no being seen with men other than your husband in public,
having to cover yourself. Something we're not used to and I'm not sure
we could be. I wondered what it would be like to give up such essential
freedoms that we are used to and this book gave me a good glimpse into
what that might feel like. I'm not sure I could do it especially
discovering that my husband had another wife, as was his right with the
laws of the land, as Rosalie does early on in the book.
The children of this couple have grown up in Arab
culture but also have been exposed to a warm and loving mothe and her
American ways. However, once their son Faisal becomes older, he starts
to resent his mother and what he sees as her corrupted way of life.
Daughter Maryam remains loyal however, which is a big comfort to Rosalie
in these trying times.
This book had me gripped from the first page, though
I am not sure I could have been as patient as Rosalie was. However,
having been a child in Saudi Arabia, when she married and moved there,
she had an idea what she was in for. And perhaps she also felt she
needed to be patient as a husband must give his wife permission to
travel, so it isn't like she could just have fled home, back to the US.
The descriptions of the characters, the cities, even
the fact that Saudis go to nearby Bahrain for more freedom on the
weekend, which for them is different days of the week than for us, the
detail this book provided made me feel like I was there, a witness to
this family and their lives.
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for our review copy! All opinions are our own.
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for our review copy! All opinions are our own.
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