A more interesting and nuanced treatment of womanhood in Morocco than you might expect. Written beautifully and evocatively, not literally, but this ends up working in its favor too. Though keep in mind that Morocco is a much different place than the rest of the Islamic world, for many historical reasons, even next-door Algeria, so don’t try to tease too many generalizations out of this tale of early-20th-century upper-class urban Fassi childhood.

that the prose is quite workmanlike, that the characters and dialogue were cut out of cardboard, and that this hardly qualifies as literature. But it is a light frothy snack easily consumed at a sitting, and it won’t do you much harm. Besides, it’s worth being familiar with so you can understand what the furor was about (and is about, with the movie coming out soon!). You can enjoy tearing it to pieces with your literary-minded room-mates or chat about it in earnest when you’re stuck in line with an Oprah devotee devoid of your indie-hipster pretensions – it’s a guaranteed conversation starter!