The Ruins of Us

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 worldThe Ruins of Us is a timely story about intolerance, family, and the injustices we endure for love that heralds the arrival of an extraordinary new voice in contemporary fiction. Best Read The Ruins of Us [ Author ] Keija Parssinen [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr I often hesitate before reading debut novels, but Ruins Of Us reads as if it is written by a wise and experienced writer The characters are complex and the ideas seamlessly embedded within their actions and reactions This was an effortless read and I was swept into the incredible landscape, but I was also inspired to think and react, which makes it a perfect read for me Keija Parssinen s ambitious, and successful, first novel is a clear prediction of the many outstanding novels to come from I often hesitate before reading debut novels, but Ruins Of Us reads as if it is written by a wise and experienced writer The characters are complex and the ideas seamlessly embedded within their actions and reactions This was an effortless read and I was swept into t...Ever since I read about this novel in one of the UK s magazines I had wanted to read it The potential of the story is alluring An American lady who married the love of her life, a Saudi billionaire, and move with him to KSA to bring up their family, discovers after 27 years of marriage that he had taken up a second younger wife Meanwhile the couples eldest son is sixteen and has been involved with a controversial religious man.Now the writer has a great story to write about What would a Ever since I read about this novel in one of the UK s magazines I had wanted to read it The potential of the story is alluring An American lady who married the love of her life, a Saudi billionaire, and move with him to...Sooo I started reading this a while ago and I initially put it down because I had some problems with some parts of the story I ll explain in a bit and I really did not like the characters That was maybe 50 pages or so in, and I considered just writing my review based on what I felt at that moment But because of my reading slump issues from last year, and really wanting to thoroughly fulfill my obligations to TLC Book Tours, I decided to keep reading and just see if I changed my mind But Sooo I started reading this a while ago and I initially put it down because I had some problems with some parts of the story I ll explain in a bit and I really did not like the characters That was maybe 50 pages or so in, and I considered just writing my review based on what I felt at that moment But because of my reading slump issues from last year, and really wanting to thoroughly fulfill my obligations to TLC Boo...This is an incredibly ambitious first novel, and Parssinen delivers a big cast of fully rendered, lovable, and flawed characters whose secrets and desires threaten to destroy them It s set in Saudi Arabia, yes, and many of the conflicts a...Growing up in an expatriate family in Saudi Arabia afflicts the main character Rosalie in many ways She isn t able to find her place when returning to America, and for many years she dreams about the land of the dunes When, many years later, she meets Abdullah, a Saudi sheik, and moves back to the Kingdom to start a family, she can finally breathe Further, being the wife of one of the richest men in the world has its adva...Disclaimer I received an ARC e galley of this book through NetGalley.It would be easy for a novel written by an American writer about an American woman who married a Saudi man and moved to Saudi Arabia, only to discover years later that he had taken a second wife, to sink into a dramatic focus on mistreatment of women However, this novel rises above that Born to an expatriate family in Saudi Arabia, Keija Parssinen is the perfect person to tell this story No, things are not equal between men Disclaimer I received an ARC e galley of this book through NetGalley.It would be easy for a novel written by an American writer about an American woman who married a Saudi man and moved to Saudi Arabia, only to discover years later that he had taken a second wife, to sink into a dramatic focus on mistreatment of women However, this novel rises above that Born to an expatriate family in Saudi Arabia, Keija Parssinen is the perfect person to tell this story No, things are not equal between men and women in Saudi Arabia But there is a reason the US Department of State has a page detailing the reality of being a Saudi wife for Americans who are considering this life despite the reputations and stereotypes, this country and culture has an allure that draws people...Twentyseven years after she left Texas behind to marry the love of her life and follow him to his home in Saudi Arabia, Rosalie finds out that her husband has taken a second wife, much to the consternation of everyone around him and her own anger and sorrow While she struggles with the implications of this revelation, feeling like what she thought of as her perfect marriage and family are slowly disintegrating before her eyes, the couple s two teenaged children are pulled into opposite Twentyseven years after she left Texas behind to marry the love of her life and follow him to his home in Saudi Arabia, Rosalie finds out that her husband has taken a second wife, much to the consternation of everyone arou...This is a magnetic narrative which is wrapped around the love of an expat, Rosalie, and her Saudi husband, Abdullah They meet as students, at a Texas University, and after they marry, Abdullah convinces Rosalie to return to his native country She had been raised there, because her father had worked for an oil company, and needs little persuasion The pull of the country was drawing her back and she was eager to go Forgetting her hippy past and disregarding the lack of freedom for women, she This is a magnetic narrative which is wrapped around the love of an expat, Rosalie, and her Saudi husband, Abdullah They meet as students, at a Texas University, and after they marry, Abdullah convinces Rosalie to return to his native country She had been raised there, because her father had worked for an oil company, and needs little persuasion The pull of the country was drawing her back and she was eager to go Forgetting her hippy past and disregarding the lack of freedom for women, she reentered the Kingdom, making a valiant effort to live there and raise her family The author was also raised in Saudi Arabia, for the first 12 years of life, and she deftly shines a light on the culture, the beauty, the excesses of the royals, the oppression and the fanaticism ...What would you do if you found out that your husband ofthan 25 years, the father of your two teen aged children and the man for whom you gave up your family shabby as they might have been and your country, had a new woman Get angry, call a lawyer, grab the kids and run for the hills Any of those would be completely justifiable reactions but things are a little different for Rosalie Her husband Abdullah is a wealthy man, well connected with a powerful family and drum roll for the What would you do if you found out that your husband ofthan 25 years, the father of your two teen aged children and the man for whom you gave up your family shabby as they might have been and your country, had a new woman Get angry, call a lawyer, grab the kids and run for the hills Any of those would be completely justifiable reactions but things are a little different for Rosalie Her husband Abdullah is a wealthy man, well connected with a powerful family and drum roll for the punchline he s a Saudi living in Saudi Arabia and legally speaking he s not only entitled to take a second wife or a third or a fourth, and with some flexible interpretation of the Koran, evenbut he gets the kids No discussion, no debate, the kids stay with their father And if the father dies, they go to one of his male relatives The mother is an almost total irrelevance The simple tale of boy meets girl, they fall in love...Have you ever read a book so fast because there was a story but the writing was really boring and you wanted to know what will happen at the end That was my case with this book I finished it in 3 days even though I didn t enjoy reading it at all.There is a story about an American lady who fell in love with a Saudi man, married him and went back to his country to spend the rest of her life and raise their children After years of living together, she finds out that her husband is married to Have you ever read a book so fast because there was a story but the writing was really boring and you wanted to know what will happen at the end That was my case with this book I finished it in 3 days even though I didn t enjoy reading it at all.There is a story about an American lady who fell in love with a Saudi man, married him and went back to his country to spend the rest of her life and raise their children After years of living together, she finds out that her husband is married to another woman and haven t told her for 2 years The story is about the American lady s reaction, action and what she will do or won t How his 2nd marriage ruined their lives and their children s, what will happen next and how they will they continue living together after what happened.There s a story but the writer failed to express the characters wisely i felt detached from every single chara...

• English
• 08 June 2019
Keija Parssinen
• Paperback
• 352 pages
• 0062064487
• Keija Parssinen
• The Ruins of Us