Product Description

Under the hot sun, the Jeddah streets make a scene from an old black-and-white movie: the women dressed like long, dark shadows and the men in their light cotton tunics. Naser's friends have all left town for cooler climes but he can't get away: he's an outsider in Saudi and he needs to hold down his job at the local carwash. During his time off, he sits beneath his favourite palm tree, writing to the mother he has left behind in Africa and yearning for the glamorous Egyptian actress he hopes to meet one day. It's hard to adjust to a world that puts up so many barriers between men and women: walls in the mosque, divider panels in the buses and veils on the street.Naser feels increasingly trapped, not least by the religious police who keep watch through the shaded windows of their government jeeps. A splash of colour arrives in Naser's world when, unexpectedly, a small piece of paper is dropped at his feet. It is a love note, from a woman whose face he has never seen and whose voice he has never heard. She tells him that she will wear a pair of pink shoes the next time she passes so that he can pick her out from the other women in their identical black abayas. Erotic tension runs high; Naser and his 'habibati' begin to exchange letters. But in moments of doubt the pink shoes seem to lead him into a cul-de-sac of thwarted desire, fraught with danger. Relationships between unmarried men and women are illegal under the strict Wahhibism of Saudi state rule - and it's not long before their real, but illicit, love must face the hardest test of all...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51042 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
`...a beautiful love story set in Saudi Arabia. Rendered in crisp language, a simple plot develops into an acute political novel' --Irish Times

`a simple story is elevated by Addonia's mastery of tension.' --Sunday Telegrah

Review
"Evocatively told...a thoughtful book that deserves success."

Review
'tender-hearted and reader-friendly.'

Customer Reviews

Excellent debut
This novel is a breath of fresh air in a market seemingly saturated with stuffy, scholarly titles.

I finally picked this up at my library after several looks, as I was not sure about the subject (a soppy story?). It is written in the first-person, which I usually find to my liking. The story is set in Saudi Arabia.
I found this enticing due to its uniqueness.
Addonia describes the way of life and customs in the region, captures the people, and meshes his protagonists' story within this brilliantly. I felt the ending was the best of any I have read, tinged with hope, resoluteness and a little sadness.

In summary, this is a great story set in a the mysterious, affluent and traditional land of Saudi Arabia and well-worth picking up.

The Consequences of Love
This book is amazing! I didn't know what to expect when i received this as a gift from my partner, but i'm not sure i've read such an engrossing story in a long time. I hadn't heard of this writer before, but i'll certainly be keeping an eye out in the future.

A compelling love story!
Absolutely compelling until the very last page, an exceptionally unusual love story - at least for Western readers. The book starts as an almost sociological portrayal of the contemporary society in the Saudi-Arabian theocracy: you simply can't imagine how people live their everyday life in that society where a gender-apartheid rules. Not only live men and women completely in separated worlds, but the religious organization of life even kills nearly every aspect of lust for life. Hypocrisy and abuse of power are only two of the many characteristics Addonia writes of.
The author's language is wonderful and poetic - especially when the love story begins with the secret love letters.
An advice to unpatient readers: keep reading even if maybe the beginning sometimes is a bit too descriptive! You have to be patient until the first love letter is dropped on Al-Nuzla street!!