Do you have any? I do!!
My sister, also an avid reader, moved to Pakistan when she got married. After living in Karachi for 6 years, they shifted to Dubai. Anyway, she’s always bringing me interesting books that I would never have known about or read myself, and some of these have become my favorite books…here are a few…I’ll update as I remember more"
- Mother Without a Mask: A Westerner’s Story of Her Arab Family- Patricia Holton- When Patricia Holton welcomed the two sons of a Gulf Sheikh with whom her husband worked into her home, little did she know that she was building a bridge between two worlds. Over the following years Patricia travelled frequently to their homeland, enjoying their family’s hospitality in the sophisticated townhouses and hotels brought by the oil rush to Abu Dhabi, as well as the traditional desert encampments. She became, to the Sheikha, Um Yusef (mother of Joseph) and, to the sons, Mrs. Tea Cup. She witnessed a world where ancient and modern were becoming entwined for the first time, where the waves are haunted by djinn spirits but camels have been replaced by Mercedes.
- Desperate in Dubai- by **Ameera Al Hakawati- Oozing with men, money, and Maseratis, Dubai is the ultimate playground for the woman who knows her Louboutins from her Louis Vuittons. But for some, there’s a lot more at stake than a Hermes Birkin. Leila has been in search of a wealthy husband for over a decade. Nadia moves to Dubai to support her husband’s career, only to have her sacrifices thrown in her face. Sugar escapes the UK in an attempt to escape her past. Lady Luxe, the rebellious Emirati heiress, scoffs at everything her culture holds sacred. Until the day her double life starts unravelling at the seams. Set against a backdrop of luxury hotels and manmade islands, Desperate in Dubai tells the tale of four desperate women as they struggle to find truth, love, and themselves
And inspired/reminded by Muqqawee about this one:
- *My Feudal Lord by Tehmina Durrani, William Hoffer, Marilyn Hoffer-
*Born into one of Pakistan’s most influential families, Tehmina Durrani was raised in the privileged milieu of Lahore high society. Like all women of her rank, she was expected to marry a prosperous Muslim from a respectable family, bear him many children and lead a sheltered life of leisure. Her marriage to Mustafa Khar, one of Pakistan’s most eminent political figures, soon turned into a nightmare. Violently possessive and pathologically jealous, Mustafa Khar succeeded in cutting her off from the outside world. For fourteen years, Tehmina suffered alone, in silence. When she decided to rebel, the price she paid was extremely high: as a Muslim woman seeking a divorce, she signed away all financial support, lost the custody of her four children, and found herself alienated from her friends and disowned by her parents. When this book was first published it shook Pakistani society to its foundations. Here at last was someone who had succeded in reconciling her faith in Islam with her ardent belief in women’s rights. Tehmina Durrani’s story provided extraordinary insights into the vulnerable position of women caught in the complex web of Muslim society
