Girls of Riyadh
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kate Reading
-
By:
-
Rajaa Alsanea
About this listen
Originally released in Arabic in 2005, the novel was immediately banned in Saudi Arabia because of the controversial and inflammatory content, though black-market copies circulated widely. The daring originality of Girls of Riyadh continues to create a firestorm all over the Arab world, and the excitement has spread far beyond the Middle East.
While this novel offers a distinctly Arab voice, it also represents the mongrel culture and language of a globalized world, reflecting the way the Arab world is being changed by new economic and political realities.
Riyadh is the larger setting of the novel, but the characters travel all over the world shedding traditional garb as they literally and figuratively cross over into Western society. These women understand the Western worldview and experiment with reconciling pieces of it with their own. This groundbreaking novel might be the very first that opens up their world to us - their culture, their struggles, their frustrations, their hopes, and their beliefs.
With Girls of Riyadh, Rajaa Alsanea gives us a rare and unforgettable insight into the complicated lives of these young Saudi women, whose amazing stories are unfolding in a culture so very different from our own.
©2007 Rajaa Alsanea (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. and Books on Tape. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Princess
- A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
- By: Jean Sasson
- Narrated by: Catherine Byers
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Princess describes the life of Princess Sultana Al Sa'ud, a princess in the royal house of Saudi Arabia. Hidden behind her black veil, she is a prisoner, jailed by her father, her husband, and her country. Sultana tells of appalling oppressions, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations: 13-year-old girls forced to marry men five times their age; young women killed by drowning, stoning, or isolation in the "women's room". Princess is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and courage.
-
-
Good story but...
- By Jay Friedman on 07-25-14
By: Jean Sasson
-
An American Bride in Kabul
- By: Phyllis Chesler PhD
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few westerners will ever be able to understand Muslim or Afghan society unless they are part of a Muslim family. Twenty years old and in love, Phyllis Chesler, a Jewish-American girl from Brooklyn, embarked on an adventure that has lasted for more than a half-century. Drawing upon her personal diaries, Chesler recounts her ordeal, the nature of gender apartheid - and her longing to explore this beautiful, ancient, and exotic country and culture.
-
-
An Exceptional Book
- By Elaine Fresco on 04-16-19
-
Rebel
- My Escape from Saudi Arabia to Freedom
- By: Rahaf Mohammed
- Narrated by: anonymous
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In early 2019, after three years of careful planning, Rahaf Mohammed finally escaped her abusive family in Saudi Arabia—but made it only to Bangkok before being stripped of her passport. If forced to return home, she was sure she would be killed, like other rebel women in her country. As men pounded at the door of her barricaded hotel room, she opened a Twitter account. The teenager reached out to the world, and the world answered—she gained 45,000 followers in one day, and those followers helped her seek asylum in the West. Now Rahaf Mohammed tells her remarkable story in her own words.
-
-
incredible story even for me as a Saudi man
- By Amer on 03-12-22
By: Rahaf Mohammed
-
The Covenant of Water
- By: Abraham Verghese
- Narrated by: Abraham Verghese
- Length: 31 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala’s long-existing Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time.
-
-
Story Telling At Its Best
- By Regina on 05-06-23
By: Abraham Verghese
-
Yasmeena's Choice
- A True Story of War, Rape, Courage and Survival
- By: Jean Sasson
- Narrated by: Parisa Johnston
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the true story of Yasmeena, a bright and beautiful young Lebanese woman who was imprisoned in Kuwait during the first Gulf War. Yasmeena's shocking journey is a tale of the madness of war, of the sexual brutality unleashed by chaos, and of one woman’s courage to stand in danger’s way to aid her fellow sufferers.
-
-
Not what I expected.
- By Kelleefornia on 03-13-15
By: Jean Sasson
-
A Woman Is No Man
- A Novel
- By: Etaf Rum
- Narrated by: Ariana Delawari, Dahlia Salem, Susan Nezami
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn are torn between individual desire and the strict mores of Arab culture in this powerful debut - a heart-wrenching story of love, intrigue, courage, and betrayal that will resonate with women from all backgrounds, giving voice to the silenced and agency to the oppressed.
-
-
Powerful and Terrifying
- By Emmst51 on 05-04-19
By: Etaf Rum
-
Princess
- A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
- By: Jean Sasson
- Narrated by: Catherine Byers
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Princess describes the life of Princess Sultana Al Sa'ud, a princess in the royal house of Saudi Arabia. Hidden behind her black veil, she is a prisoner, jailed by her father, her husband, and her country. Sultana tells of appalling oppressions, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations: 13-year-old girls forced to marry men five times their age; young women killed by drowning, stoning, or isolation in the "women's room". Princess is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and courage.
-
-
Good story but...
- By Jay Friedman on 07-25-14
By: Jean Sasson
-
An American Bride in Kabul
- By: Phyllis Chesler PhD
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few westerners will ever be able to understand Muslim or Afghan society unless they are part of a Muslim family. Twenty years old and in love, Phyllis Chesler, a Jewish-American girl from Brooklyn, embarked on an adventure that has lasted for more than a half-century. Drawing upon her personal diaries, Chesler recounts her ordeal, the nature of gender apartheid - and her longing to explore this beautiful, ancient, and exotic country and culture.
-
-
An Exceptional Book
- By Elaine Fresco on 04-16-19
-
Rebel
- My Escape from Saudi Arabia to Freedom
- By: Rahaf Mohammed
- Narrated by: anonymous
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In early 2019, after three years of careful planning, Rahaf Mohammed finally escaped her abusive family in Saudi Arabia—but made it only to Bangkok before being stripped of her passport. If forced to return home, she was sure she would be killed, like other rebel women in her country. As men pounded at the door of her barricaded hotel room, she opened a Twitter account. The teenager reached out to the world, and the world answered—she gained 45,000 followers in one day, and those followers helped her seek asylum in the West. Now Rahaf Mohammed tells her remarkable story in her own words.
-
-
incredible story even for me as a Saudi man
- By Amer on 03-12-22
By: Rahaf Mohammed
-
The Covenant of Water
- By: Abraham Verghese
- Narrated by: Abraham Verghese
- Length: 31 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala’s long-existing Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time.
-
-
Story Telling At Its Best
- By Regina on 05-06-23
By: Abraham Verghese
-
Yasmeena's Choice
- A True Story of War, Rape, Courage and Survival
- By: Jean Sasson
- Narrated by: Parisa Johnston
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the true story of Yasmeena, a bright and beautiful young Lebanese woman who was imprisoned in Kuwait during the first Gulf War. Yasmeena's shocking journey is a tale of the madness of war, of the sexual brutality unleashed by chaos, and of one woman’s courage to stand in danger’s way to aid her fellow sufferers.
-
-
Not what I expected.
- By Kelleefornia on 03-13-15
By: Jean Sasson
-
A Woman Is No Man
- A Novel
- By: Etaf Rum
- Narrated by: Ariana Delawari, Dahlia Salem, Susan Nezami
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn are torn between individual desire and the strict mores of Arab culture in this powerful debut - a heart-wrenching story of love, intrigue, courage, and betrayal that will resonate with women from all backgrounds, giving voice to the silenced and agency to the oppressed.
-
-
Powerful and Terrifying
- By Emmst51 on 05-04-19
By: Etaf Rum
-
Driving the Saudis
- A Chauffeur's Tale of the World's Richest Princesses (plus Their Servants, Nannies, and One Royal Hairdresser)
- By: Jayne Amelia Larson
- Narrated by: Jayne Amelia Larson
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When she got hired to drive for the Saudi royal family vacationing in Beverly Hills, Larson thought she’d been handed the golden ticket. Each day the royal women spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on plastic surgery and mega-shopping sprees on Rodeo Drive. But Driving the Saudis also reveals how Larson grew to understand the complicated nuances of a society whose strict customs remain intact even across.
-
-
Too much about the author
- By Little Miss Read's A lot on 03-03-15
-
Love, InshAllah
- The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women
- By: Ayesha Mattu, Nura Maznavi
- Narrated by: Lameece Issaq, Piper Goodeve, Lauren Fortgang, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Romance, dating, sex and - Muslim women? In this groundbreaking collection, 25 American Muslim writers sweep aside stereotypes to share their search for love openly for the first time, showing just how varied the search for love can be - from singles' events and online dating, to college flirtations and arranged marriages, all with a uniquely Muslim twist. These compelling stories of love and romance create an irresistible balance of heart-warming and tantalizing, always revealing and deeply relatable.
-
-
Sex, Love, & Feminism, in the Muslim Women's World
- By Susie on 03-06-13
By: Ayesha Mattu, and others
-
Exit West
- A Novel
- By: Mohsin Hamid
- Narrated by: Mohsin Hamid
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet - sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair, and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors - doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice.
-
-
Where to Live?
- By David on 04-04-17
By: Mohsin Hamid
-
The Yacoubian Building
- A Novel
- By: Alaa Al Aswany
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed "scientist of women". A purring, voluptuous siren. A young shop girl enduring the clammy touch of her boss and hating herself for accepting the modest banknotes he tucks into her pocket afterward. An earnest, devout young doorman, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism. A cynical, secretly gay newspaper editor, helplessly in love with a peasant security guard. A roof-squatting tailor, scheming to own property. A corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify taking a mistress. All live in the Yacoubian Building....
-
-
Worthwhile
- By S. Blank on 01-23-20
By: Alaa Al Aswany
-
Reckless Girls
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Hawkins
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired to sail two women to a remote island in the South Pacific, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Stuck in a dead-end job in Hawaii, and longing to travel the world after a family tragedy, Lux is eager to climb on board The Susannah and set out on an adventure. She’s also quick to bond with their passengers, college best friends Brittany and Amma. The two women say they want to travel off the beaten path. But like Lux, they may have other reasons to be seeking an escape.
-
-
It’s amazing…
- By E. Whitlow on 01-26-22
By: Rachel Hawkins
-
The Stationery Shop
- A Novel
- By: Marjan Kamali
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square, but suddenly, violence erupts - a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she resigns herself to never seeing him again. Until, more than 60 years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century.
-
-
Beautiful Story
- By Grace on 06-26-19
By: Marjan Kamali
-
Stranger in a Strange Land
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stranger in a Strange Land is the epic saga of an earthling, Valentine Michael Smith, born and educated on Mars, who arrives on our planet with “psi” powers—telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, telekinesis, teleportation, pyrolysis, and the ability to take control of the minds of others—and complete innocence regarding the mores of man. After his tutelage under a surrogate father figure, Valentine begins his transformation into a kind of messiah.
-
-
We live in the world this book made
- By W. Seligman on 02-26-04
-
The Rainbow Comes and Goes
- A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss
- By: Anderson Cooper
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper, Gloria Vanderbilt
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Though Anderson Cooper has always considered himself close to his mother, his intensely busy career as a journalist for CNN and CBS affords him little time to spend with her. After she suffers a brief but serious illness at the age of ninety-one, they resolve to change their relationship by beginning a yearlong conversation unlike any they have ever had before. The result is a correspondence of surprising honesty and depth in which they discuss their lives, the things that matter to them, and what they still want to learn about each other.
-
-
Enjoyed the early parts
- By Dedrick on 07-06-16
By: Anderson Cooper
-
Memoirs of a Geisha
- By: Arthur Golden
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a voice both haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri describes her life as a geisha. Taken from her home at the age of nine, she is sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Witness her transformation as you enter a world where appearances are paramount, virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, women beguile powerful men, and love is scorned as illusion.
-
-
Perfect ---- in every way
- By Amanda on 02-08-06
By: Arthur Golden
-
America's First Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, best-selling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph - a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.
-
-
Great Story Great Narration
- By MissSusie66 on 03-30-16
By: Stephanie Dray, and others
-
One Thousand White Women
- By: Jim Fergus, J. Will Dodd - introduction
- Narrated by: Laura Hicks, Erik Steele
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One Thousand White Women is the story of May Dodd and a colorful assembly of pioneer women who travel to the Western prairies in 1875 to intermarry among the Cheyenne Indians.
-
-
Good story, well read, you know how it ends
- By Cynthia on 09-30-07
By: Jim Fergus, and others
-
Mercer Girls
- By: Libbie Hawker
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1864 in downtrodden Lowell, Massachusetts. The Civil War has taken its toll on the town - leaving the economy in ruin and its women in dire straits. That is, until Asa Mercer arrives on a peculiar, but providential, errand: he seeks high-minded women who can exert an elevating influence in Seattle, where there are ten men for every woman. Mail-order brides, yes, but of a certain caliber.
-
-
Love her voice
- By Amazon Customer on 01-09-17
By: Libbie Hawker
Related to this topic
-
Love, InshAllah
- The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women
- By: Ayesha Mattu, Nura Maznavi
- Narrated by: Lameece Issaq, Piper Goodeve, Lauren Fortgang, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Romance, dating, sex and - Muslim women? In this groundbreaking collection, 25 American Muslim writers sweep aside stereotypes to share their search for love openly for the first time, showing just how varied the search for love can be - from singles' events and online dating, to college flirtations and arranged marriages, all with a uniquely Muslim twist. These compelling stories of love and romance create an irresistible balance of heart-warming and tantalizing, always revealing and deeply relatable.
-
-
Sex, Love, & Feminism, in the Muslim Women's World
- By Susie on 03-06-13
By: Ayesha Mattu, and others
-
Between Two Worlds
- Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam
- By: Zainab Salbi, Laurie Becklund
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zainab Salbi was 11-years-old when her father was chosen to serve as Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, her family often forced to spend weekends with Saddam where he watched their every move. As a palace insider, Zainab offers a singular glimpse of what it is like to come of age under a dictator and provides an intimate portrait of the man she was taught to call "uncle". She watched as Saddam pitted friends, spouses, and even children against each other to compete for his approval.
-
-
An excellent history lesson
- By Ella on 12-01-09
By: Zainab Salbi, and others
-
Things I've Been Silent About
- By: Azar Nafisi
- Narrated by: Naila Azad
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Azar Nafisi, author of the beloved international best seller Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother, against the background of a country's political revolution.
-
-
Family portrait in the frame of history
- By Galina COS on 07-02-16
By: Azar Nafisi
-
Between Friends
- By: Debbie Macomber
- Narrated by: Amy Tallmadge
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski. Two girls from very different backgrounds become best friends in the turbulent '60s, but their circumstances and choices - and their mistakes - take them in opposite directions. Lesley stays in their hometown. She marries young, living a life defined by the demands of small children, never enough money, and an unfaithful husband. Jill lives those years on a college campus shaken by the Vietnam War, and then as an idealistic young lawyer in New York City. But they always remain friends.
-
-
good story crappy format!
- By Denise on 06-12-18
By: Debbie Macomber
-
Committed
- A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of her best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert fell in love with Felipe, a Brazilian-born man of Australian citizenship who'd been living in Indonesia when they met. Resettling in America, the couple swore eternal fidelity to each other, but also swore to never, ever, under any circumstances get legally married. But providence intervened one day in the form of the United States government....
-
-
Perfect timing
- By Nancy on 01-15-10
-
Marina and Lee
- The Tormented Love and Fatal Obsession Behind Lee Harvey Oswald's Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- By: Priscilla Johnson McMillan
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray, Joseph Finder
- Length: 24 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marina and Lee is one of the best and truest audiobooks about the Kennedy assassination. Priscilla Johnson McMillan came to the story with a unique knowledge of the two main characters. In the 1950s she knew Kennedy well for a time when he was hospitalized with Addison's disease. She talked to him frequently, brought him books, knew his wife, and formed a strong opinion of the sort of man he was. What is astonishing is that she also knew Lee Harvey Oswald.
-
-
Now I know why he did it
- By Rodd on 06-09-14
-
Love, InshAllah
- The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women
- By: Ayesha Mattu, Nura Maznavi
- Narrated by: Lameece Issaq, Piper Goodeve, Lauren Fortgang, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Romance, dating, sex and - Muslim women? In this groundbreaking collection, 25 American Muslim writers sweep aside stereotypes to share their search for love openly for the first time, showing just how varied the search for love can be - from singles' events and online dating, to college flirtations and arranged marriages, all with a uniquely Muslim twist. These compelling stories of love and romance create an irresistible balance of heart-warming and tantalizing, always revealing and deeply relatable.
-
-
Sex, Love, & Feminism, in the Muslim Women's World
- By Susie on 03-06-13
By: Ayesha Mattu, and others
-
Between Two Worlds
- Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam
- By: Zainab Salbi, Laurie Becklund
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zainab Salbi was 11-years-old when her father was chosen to serve as Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, her family often forced to spend weekends with Saddam where he watched their every move. As a palace insider, Zainab offers a singular glimpse of what it is like to come of age under a dictator and provides an intimate portrait of the man she was taught to call "uncle". She watched as Saddam pitted friends, spouses, and even children against each other to compete for his approval.
-
-
An excellent history lesson
- By Ella on 12-01-09
By: Zainab Salbi, and others
-
Things I've Been Silent About
- By: Azar Nafisi
- Narrated by: Naila Azad
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Azar Nafisi, author of the beloved international best seller Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother, against the background of a country's political revolution.
-
-
Family portrait in the frame of history
- By Galina COS on 07-02-16
By: Azar Nafisi
-
Between Friends
- By: Debbie Macomber
- Narrated by: Amy Tallmadge
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski. Two girls from very different backgrounds become best friends in the turbulent '60s, but their circumstances and choices - and their mistakes - take them in opposite directions. Lesley stays in their hometown. She marries young, living a life defined by the demands of small children, never enough money, and an unfaithful husband. Jill lives those years on a college campus shaken by the Vietnam War, and then as an idealistic young lawyer in New York City. But they always remain friends.
-
-
good story crappy format!
- By Denise on 06-12-18
By: Debbie Macomber
-
Committed
- A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of her best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert fell in love with Felipe, a Brazilian-born man of Australian citizenship who'd been living in Indonesia when they met. Resettling in America, the couple swore eternal fidelity to each other, but also swore to never, ever, under any circumstances get legally married. But providence intervened one day in the form of the United States government....
-
-
Perfect timing
- By Nancy on 01-15-10
-
Marina and Lee
- The Tormented Love and Fatal Obsession Behind Lee Harvey Oswald's Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- By: Priscilla Johnson McMillan
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray, Joseph Finder
- Length: 24 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marina and Lee is one of the best and truest audiobooks about the Kennedy assassination. Priscilla Johnson McMillan came to the story with a unique knowledge of the two main characters. In the 1950s she knew Kennedy well for a time when he was hospitalized with Addison's disease. She talked to him frequently, brought him books, knew his wife, and formed a strong opinion of the sort of man he was. What is astonishing is that she also knew Lee Harvey Oswald.
-
-
Now I know why he did it
- By Rodd on 06-09-14
-
Shanda
- A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy
- By: Letty Cottin Pogrebin
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The word "shanda" is defined as shame or disgrace in Yiddish. This book, Shanda, tells the story of three generations of complicated, intense twentieth-century Jews for whom the desire to fit in and the fear of public humiliation either drove their aspirations or crushed their spirit. In her deeply engaging, astonishingly candid memoir, author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin exposes the fiercely-guarded lies and intricate cover-ups woven by dozens of members of her extended family.
-
-
Beautifully Written!
- By Adele Aron Greenspun on 01-12-23
-
Where the Past Begins
- A Writer's Memoir
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.
-
-
Narration Issues
- By Sara on 12-14-17
By: Amy Tan
-
The Museum of Innocence
- By: Orhan Pamuk, Maureen Freely (translator)
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 20 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kemal, scion of one of the city's wealthiest families, is about to become engaged to Sibel, daughter of another prominent family, when he encounters Füsun, a beautiful shopgirl and a distant relation. Once the long-lost cousins violate the code of virginity, a rift begins to open between Kemal and the world of the Westernized Istanbul bourgeosie - a world, as he lovingly describes it, with opulent parties and clubs, society gossip, picnics, and mansions on the Bosphorus, infused with the melancholy of decay.
-
-
one of the very best I've ever heard
- By Rebecca Lindroos on 03-06-10
By: Orhan Pamuk, and others
-
The Unspeakable
- And Other Subjects of Discussion
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Meghan Daum
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's a report tempered by hard times. In "Matricide", Daum unflinchingly describes a parent's death and the uncomfortable emotions it provokes; and in "Diary of a Coma" she relates her own journey to the twilight of the mind. But Daum also operates in a comic register. With perfect precision, she reveals the absurdities of the marriage-industrial complex, of the New Age dating market, and of the peculiar habits of the young and digital.
-
-
Complaining about her dead mom.
- By Erik Hermansen on 11-23-14
By: Meghan Daum
-
Forgiveness
- By: Chiquis Rivera
- Narrated by: Arika Rapson
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chiquis Rivera is a singer and the daughter of the late music superstar Jenni Rivera. In Forgiveness, her memoir, Chiquis bravely reveals the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father during her childhood and the difficulties she's faced in her personal life as a result. Despite growing up marked by the wounds of abuse, she eventually conquered her fear of love and intimacy.
-
-
Audio
- By Eli on 03-24-17
By: Chiquis Rivera
-
The Book of Separation
- A Memoir
- By: Tova Mirvis
- Narrated by: Tova Mirvis
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born and raised in a tight-knit Orthodox Jewish family, Tova Mirvis committed herself to observing the rules and rituals prescribed by this way of life. After all, to observe was to be accepted and to be accepted was to be loved. She married a man from within the fold and quickly began a family. But over the years, her doubts became noisier than her faith, and at age 40 she could no longer breathe in what had become a suffocating existence.
-
-
So many parallels
- By Cortney on 01-05-18
By: Tova Mirvis
-
Infidel
- By: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- Narrated by: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This New York Times best-seller is the astonishing life story of award-winning humanitarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali. A deeply respected advocate for free speech and women's rights, Hirsi Ali also lives under armed protection because of her outspoken criticism of the Islamic faith in which she was raised.
-
-
Tough, Candid Assessment
- By Paul Mullen on 02-18-08
By: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
-
The Imam's Daughter
- My Desperate Flight to Freedom
- By: Hannah Shah
- Narrated by: Christine Rendel
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hannah Shah is an Imam's daughter. She lived the life of a devout Muslim in a family of Pakistani Muslims in England, but behind the front door, she was a caged butterfly. For many years, her father abused her in the cellar of their home. At 16, she discovered a plan to send her to Pakistan for an arranged marriage, and she gathered the courage to run away. Relentlessly hunted by her angry father and brothers, who were intent on executing an "honor" killing, she moved from house to house in perpetual fear to escape them.
-
-
only half of the story is in Audible!
- By ellen on 02-09-11
By: Hannah Shah
-
Americanized
- Rebel Without a Green Card
- By: Sara Saedi
- Narrated by: Lameece Issaq
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 13, bright-eyed straight-A student Sara Saedi uncovered a terrible family secret: She was breaking the law simply by living in the United States. Only two years old when her parents fled Iran, she didn't learn of her undocumented status until her older sister wanted to apply for an after-school job but couldn't because she didn't have a Social Security number. Fear of deportation kept Sara up at night, but it didn't keep her from being a teenager.
-
-
Corny Cheesy
- By Mina00 on 09-06-18
By: Sara Saedi
-
Philomena
- A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search
- By: Martin Sixsmith
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Now a major motion picture directed by Stephen Frears ( The Queen, High Fidelity) and starring Judi Dench ( Skyfall, Notes on a Scandal) and Steve Coogan ( The Trip, Hamlet 2): the heartbreaking true story of an Irishwoman and the secret she kept for 50 years. When she became pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to a convent to be looked after as a "fallen woman". Then the nuns took her baby from her and sold him, like thousands of others, to America for adoption. Fifty years later, Philomena decided to find him.
-
-
Very Moving Story
- By Cariola on 02-09-14
By: Martin Sixsmith
-
Peace from Broken Pieces
- How to Get Through What You're Going Through
- By: Iyanla Vanzant
- Narrated by: Iyanla Vanzant
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling author Iyanla Vanzant recounts the last decade of her life and the spiritual lessons learned—from the price of success during her meteoric rise as a TV celebrity on Oprah, the Iyanla TV show (produced by Barbara Walters), to the dissolution of her marriage and her daughter's 15 months of illness and death on Christmas day.
-
-
Iyanla is Inspirational! A GREAT LISTEN!!!
- By Theresa on 12-04-11
By: Iyanla Vanzant
-
Jackie, Ethel, Joan
- Women of Camelot
- By: J. Randy Taraborrelli
- Narrated by: Beth Fowler
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to be a Kennedy? If ever three women would be challenged and changed by marriage into a family, it would be Jacqueline Bouvier, Ethel Skakel, and Joan Bennett. None of these radiant brides could have ever been prepared for the fame, the family, and tragedies that would spring from their lives. As they struggled to cope with their husbands' infidelities, the harsh glare of the media, and the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, these women would learn what it meant to be sisters, reaching out to one another with comfort and consolation.
-
-
my first Kennedy book
- By colleen on 06-15-12
What listeners say about Girls of Riyadh
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ghassan Tranesh
- 11-29-17
I enjoyed this book like never before.
I recommend this book the most. I really live it. My recommendation is to read it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- NebSoilDoc
- 10-10-16
I know this is asking a lot
Most of the blame for the disfunction is put on the men, however, the role of the mothers is suscribes but not taken as a serious part of the problem. These yong women will be 'enforcers' in 20 years and hence will propagate the problem.
It would have been interesting to get the men's view of all these relationships.
The insight into Saudi society is interesting and the fact that the book was banned speaks loudly about that society.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Story
- Zahara
- 11-17-19
beautiful story!
Gorgeously told, and surprisingly endearing. 5 stars in every category! Would definitely recommend this book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Linda
- 03-01-13
Truth Is Often Stranger Than Fiction
This may be a work of fiction, but it reads like a lot of the non-fiction/memior material that has been written by Arab women in the last 25 years. Enjoy it for the accurate cultural voyeurism it offers, respect it for the truth it tells.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Aly
- 06-17-19
Great Story & Narration
As an American woman living in Riyadh for a year now, this book definitely confirmed a lot of the observations and guesses I had made about what life may be like for a native woman here. The narrator was very easy to understand in English yet clearly also spoke Arabic, as those words sounded even more comfortable. The asides meant to explain some Arabic words and Saudi customs were very helpful (most I knew but I learned a few new ones). The stories were also wholly engrossing, as I found myself listening and listening, hardly able to stop.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- nas
- 10-18-09
ok
Ok ..so this was a bit like a sisterhood of the traveling pants...in Saudi . It was enjoyable but didn't quite cut it. i love books about the "eastern" cultures...I can't put my finger on it ..but this didn't quite cut it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Veronica
- 04-24-12
A colourful cultural journey
What about Kate Reading’s performance did you like?
I've listened to Kate Reading before and always enjoyed her performaces (particularily The Wheel of Time series). She speaks clearly with a certain dryness, cut when applicable by the required emotion.
Any additional comments?
I picked up this book because I've always been fascinated by foreign cultures, and from the preview this appeared to be a venture into the lives of young women in Riyadh. This is exactly what I got. It's full of reasons and situations that are similar and at the same time very different from what I've grown up with, and forms of expression in dialogue that seem to be plucked straight from Arabic, which I find absolutely fascinating (I don't speak Arabic but intend to learn).
I quickly grew to root for the four main characters, and followed them through their ups and downs. At the end of the book I was sad to leave them.
I've already recommended this book to most of my friends. That in itself is n indication of how much I enjoyed it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- yabayan
- 06-01-23
Very interesting
Intriguing hidden stories from a time where everything is hushed up, It is of course not a generalised lifestyle as expected but nice to know.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carroll
- 09-08-11
Essential if you work in the KSA
This was amazingly helpful for me to understand the social issues of working with Saudi's.. great examples of the various challenges in this culture.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DD
- 05-10-19
glimpse into saudi woman's lives
i found it engrossing and fascinating. it did not change my preconceived notions of how woman are 2nd class citizens in Saudi Arabia. it did open my eyes to some beautiful poetry of love of Muslim writers.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!