She is shown as a rebel at school by sewing her own clothing and she refuses to be held back by traditional Saudi rules of covering oneself. Daughter Mariam struggles for equal rights for women. Mariam and Faisal illustrate two sides of Saudi Arabia.

Dan’s anger toward Abdullah is the beginning of the end of their long friendship and the beginning of his devotion to Rosalie.įallen to the wayside as the drama unfolds are Mariam and Faisal, Rosalie and Abdullah’s children. His character offers an interesting look into Rosalie’s past. Even his long running friendship with his American friend Dan is cast into shadows.ĭan, who Abdullah and Rosalie met when they were in college in Texas, is an American who works for a Saudi Arabian company. Abdullah is unable to cope with his wife’s anger and resentment and detaches himself from his first love and children to be with Isra, his second wife. Her hurt and disappointment lead her into a downward spiral where nothing matters except her pain. The story begins with Rosalie’s discovery of her beloved husband Abdullah’s secret marriage of two years to a Saudi Arabian-born woman.

Parssinen spins a beautiful story about Rosalie (an expatriate), her husband Abdullah, their children Mariam and Faisal, and their friend Dan. Born in Saudi Arabia and having lived there for twelve years as a third generation expatriate, Parssinen’s writing brings the intensity of the country’s political and cultural world to the reader’s doorstep, inviting readers to step into a world of lightness and darkness as she unveils one family’s unraveling and isolation. When Faisal makes an ill-fated choice that could destroy everything his embattled family holds dear, all must confront difficult truths as they fight to preserve what remains of their love.Keija Parssinen’s first novel, The Ruins of Us, is a story about a family’s fall from harmony into discord set in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Abdullah and Rosalie's consuming personal entanglements blind them to the crisis approaching their sixteen-year-old son Faisal, whose deepening resentment towards their lifestyle has led to his growing involvement with a controversial Sheikh.

Driven by anger and heartache, she plots her departure, soliciting fellow American and Abdullah's best friend, lonely divorce Dan Coleman, to help her. The discovery plunges the powerful family into chaos as Rosalie grapples with leaving Saudi Arabia, her life, and her family behind.

More than two decades after moving to Saudi Arabia and marrying Abdullah Baylani, Rosalie learns that her husband has taken a second wife, beautiful Palestinian Isra. Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Industrial processes Reference, Information & Interdisciplinary subjects

Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2023.

Hong Kong Golden Dragon Books 2022-2023.

The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen