Marilyn Booth Volgorde van de boeken (chronologisch)

Elke week na het vrijdagavondgebed stuurt een anonieme jonge vrouw een e-mail naar een chatgroep over de belevenissen van Qamra, Sadiem, Lamies en Michelle, vier Saoedische high-societyvriendinnen. In vijftig e-mails volgen we de romantische en seksuele escapades van de vier studentes en zien we hun frustraties en rebellie tegen de soms verstikkende culturele tradities in hun eigen land. De meiden van Riaad werd bij verschijning onmiddellijk verboden in Saoedi-Arabië vanwege het controversiële en ontvlambare karakter ervan, en lezers betalen op de zwarte markt woekerprijzen om het in handen te krijgen. Het verschijnt dit jaar in maar liefst dertien landen.

Often likened to Rigoberta Menchu and Nadine Gordimer, Nawal El Saadawi is one of the world's leading feminist authors. Director of Health and Education in Cairo, she was summarily dismissed from her post in 1972 for her political writing and activities. In 1981 she was imprisoned by Anwar Sadat for alleged "crimes against the State" and was not released until after his assassination.Memoirs from the Women's Prison offers both firsthand witness to women's resistance to state violence and fascinating insights into the formation of women's community. Saadawi describes how political prisoners, both secular intellectuals and Islamic revivalists, forged alliances to demand better conditions and to maintain their sanity in the confines of their cramped cell.Saadawi's haunting prose makes Memoirs an important work of twentieth-century literature. Recognized as a classic of prison writing, it touches all who are concerned with political oppression, intellectual freedom, and personal dignity.