Themes. I knew I had to do this post because people keep asking about these characters. Especially people who have never lived outside the Middle East.

But first here’s the trailer.  This time I just did it myself because getting a storyboard ready and having someone who understood the Middle east was going to be hard. I wasn’t sure they’d get it right. Tell me what you think about the trailer.

Then there are the various themes. I’m going to share a few issues that often come up in middle east fiction. Check out my list of middle east fiction, if this is a genre you’re interested in reading.

THEMES

War

Its quite obvious when you live here, somehow your life is touched by war. Every member state of the Middle East has seen this in the past or continues to do so at present. Kuwait saw two Gulf wars. And I’ve chosen to highlight the first war. I grew up and fled Kuwait with my family and remember that time vividly. Kuwait was practically reduced to rubble by the time it ended. the beach clean up of oil took decades and even today parts of the country still mark the evidence of what happened.

Polygamy

It’s a known fact that men are allowed to take up more than one wife. Sad for the women. I mean for die-hard believers in the “one true love” concept, it does hurt. But this is accepted in this culture. Sabah has a hard time with this and that’s where the trouble begins.

Unequal Opportunity for Women

Kuwaiti women got the right to vote in 2005. That’s how nascent their suffrage movement is. With that followed the right to hold elected office. But it’s an uphill battle since society is still patriarchal and business is still part of the old boy’s club. And that’s why Sabah & Violet find it so hard to build a business.

WORKER’S RIGHTS

You have no rights, especially if you work as a domestic. In fact President Duterte was quite vocal about this issue which granted his citizens special rights. Most contracts are written in Arabic. As maids, Tintin and Violet are hard-pressed and have to second-guess their boss. Lots of reviewers have commented on how they loved the interaction between the maids. They’re like a pseudo family within the confines of these homes. And as much as I’d love to dedicate more pages to this, this book does show that you can build a family with strangers when you’re far from home.

STIGMA OF THE DOMESTIC

The term dignity of labor isn’t understood here. If you’re a domestic worker, you’re something of a lesser human being. This is quite evident when Sabah’s son first comes home from the US. His attitude is quite telling and that’s the general perception of domestic workers throughout the region.

BRIDE MONEY

Here, instead of a dowry, men have to pay the women’s family bride money in exchange for their daughter which is why GCC brides are very expensive.

BLOG TOUR

Painting Kuwait Violet is going to go on a blog tour. It will run from October 8th – October 22^nd 

 

To be honest, it’s my first time doing a blog tour. And I’m super excited. My book spotlight page is here. 

So now you have a little more about the themes in this book. There’s a lot of this book that I edited/ took out to sharpen and tighten the pace. Aliya’s weight loss journey, Violet’s childhood and Tintin’s own backstory.  I hope despite that you enjoy the book given all the unbelievable stuff you find in these pages.