Review of Hanan al-Sheik's Women of sand and Myrrh

I finished Hanan al-Sheik's Women of sand and Myrrh yesterday. It was an OK read. I was not that impressed by the whole book. It is the story of 4 women, Nur, Suzanne, Tamr, and Suha. They are all spoiled women who have a strong connection with the west, lots of money, but end up living in an unnamed Arab desert country with little freedom, and husbands who have little respect for them. There is a lot of talk of yearning for companionship (even with each other) and unsatisfied needs. A lot of what went on in the book looked like it was geared to showing that women need a kind of freedom that they simply do not get under oppressive Arab (Muslim) regimes, and without it they will lead unsatisfying and self-destructive lives that leave them empty in the end. The writing is mediocre, and the translation (or perhaps the writing
itself) seems a bit stilted. The dialogue is not smooth in the English.