Die verbotene Frau: Meine Jahre mit Scheich Khalid von Dubai by Verena Wermuth
SUMMARY: Verena, a Swiss, and sheik Khalid meet on a language course in England and fall in love. However, the fact they come from a different cultures makes their love impossible. Although Khalid puts in a good fight, Verena is forbidden to him. Can love win against the differences and tradition?
REVIEW: Read it in Slovene translation. Either the translation was bad or it was just that badly written. The title and the blurb are promising, but the content is over all disappointing. I was annoyed at how culturally unaware Verena was at the time, I understand the world was only in the process of becoming the global village then, but I am pretty sure they had books in libraries from which she could havw learned about the Arabic culture. It is really disturbing especially because it is a biography.
The writing style is poor, too, it comes out as if she had a long monologue over a cup of coffee. There are virtually no transitions, it is all just like a set of anecdotes put together.
The story could have been better rounded up, because the ending seems as if it had been written in a hurry. Why on earth change the approach in the end and start writing in the form of letters?
So, generally, the story itself could be interesting, the topic is appealing, but almost all the potentials are lost due to the way it is presented.
