The novels that reflect a century of change in Saudi Arabia

These works illustrate how writers from the kingdom helped shape Arabic storytelling

Writer Raja Alem’s work is renowned for its poetic prose and vivid portrayals of Makkah’s streets and hidden histories. Getty Images

For about a century, literature in Saudi Arabia has provided a window into the lives of citizens across its cities and regions, as the kingdom underwent seismic changes over the decades.

With Saudi Arabia celebrating its National Day on Tuesday, these novels stand as a testament to the influence of Saudi writers and how they shaped the Arabic novel through their complexity, eclecticism and settings from boarding schools and oil camps to Makkah’s backstreets and the palaces of the powerful.

Presented chronologically, the list below, taken from The National’s selection of the most important Arabic novels of the 20th and 21st centuries, shows how Saudi fiction has emerged as one of the most distinctive strands of Arabic literature, with its resonance increasingly recognised beyond the kingdom through major international awards. Where available, the English translations are shown in some of the book covers below.

1. The Twins (1930) by Abd Al Quddus Al Ansari

The Twins by Abd Al Quddus Al Ansari. Photo: Al Tarqi Press

Considered the first novel of Saudi literature, Abd AlQuddus Al Ansari’s The Twins was actually published two years before the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded by King Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Released in Damascus in 1930, the novel was the author’s first attempt at fiction, exploring the potentially deleterious effects of western education on the East. In the book, twin brothers Rasheed and Fareed attend separate schools – one national and one foreign.

Their paths could not diverge further, as one ends up a pillar of society, while the other dies shamefully in exile. The book was given a second life in 2011, when, 80 years after its initial publication, it received a theatrical adaptation in Saudi Arabia.

2. Cities of Salt (1984) by Abdul Rahman Munif

Cities of Salt by Abdelrahman Munif. Photo: Penguin Random House

Some novels on this list took years to find their audience. Abdul Rahman Munif’s Cities of Salt is not one of them. Credited with inventing the petro-fiction subgenre, Munif’s masterpiece received immediate praise globally after its initial publication in Lebanon in 1984.

It is the first of a quintet of books, set in an unnamed state, each of which fictionally chart the multitudinous changes in the Arabian Gulf caused by the discovery of oil reserves. While Munif was born in Amman, outside of his home country, he spent years charting the development of the region’s oil industry as a journalist, editing the monthly journal AlNaft wal Tanmiya (Oil and Development in English), before he tried his hand at fiction.

3. Four Zero (1987) by Raja Alem

Four Zero by Raja Alem. Photo: Society of Culture and Arts

About 15 years before Raja Alem jointly won the 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for The Dove's Necklace, the Saudi author found regional acclaim with Four Zero.

The book revolves around the life of Ahlam, a young Saudi woman striving for social connection amid a deeply traditional patriarchal society. Replete with Alam's signature rich and poetic prose, the novel reflects Saudi Arabia's society as it navigates between preserving tradition while looking outward to the world.

4. Phantoms of the Deserted Alleys (1995) by Turki Al Hamad

Adama, Book 1 of Phantoms of the Deserted Alleys by Turki Al Hamad. Photo: Dar Al Saqi

This trilogy of novels by Turki Al Hamad follow the life of Hisham Al Abir, who grows up in various cities in Saudi Arabia during the 1960s and 1970s. The period is marked by the economic and technological advancements of the kingdom and young Saudis grappling with their sense of identity.

5. The Dove's Necklace (2011) by Raja Alem

The Dove's Neckace by Raja Alem. Photo: Overlook Press

Raja Alem second masterpiece offers a different, though no less evocative, view of Makkah – one removed from its spiritual symbolism and immersed instead in the gritty, vibrant alleyways replete with history and hidden local secrets.

Beginning with a murder in the historic Umm Al Nar Quarter, Alem ingeniously makes one of Makkah's streets the narrator. The resulting investigation, in this Ipaf-winning novel, exposes the city’s social undercurrents as it grapples with community tensions and patriarchal forces.

6. Throwing Sparks (2010) by Abdo Khal

Throwing Sparks by Abdo Khal. Courtesy Bloomsbury

Winner of the 2010 Ipaf award, Abdo Khal sets this pensive and at times violent novel in 1980s Jeddah, a city in the grip of a powerful tycoon known as The Master. As a lowly employee in his palace, Tariq is forced to film the sadistic acts The Master inflicts on his enemies, a task that triggers a crisis of conscience and faith. An unsettling meditation on the corruptive power of wealth, Throwing Sparks remains one of the boldest novels to emerge from the kingdom and a cautionary tale for a Saudi Arabia undergoing change.

7. A Small Death (2017) by Mohammed Hasan Alwan

An English translation of A Small by Mohammed Hasan Alwan is available under the title Ibn Arabi's Small Death. Photo: University of Texas Press

An epic fictional account of the Sufi mystic Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, A Small Death traces his life from his birth in 12th-century Muslim Spain to his death in Damascus. The novel follows his travels across several countries and his search for four aqtab – spiritual guides – one of whom is a woman he loves. While the historical backdrop is compelling, A Small Death soars when exploring Ibn 'Arabi’s inner journey and spiritual struggles.

8. Voyage of the Cranes in the Cities of Agate (2017) by Omaima Al-Khamis

Voyage of the Cranes in the Cities of Agate by Omaima Al-Khamis. Photo: Dar Al Saqi

A young 11th-century Andalusian scholar travels east in search of knowledge and self-realisation. Traversing the intellectual hubs of Cairo, Baghdad and Jerusalem, he questions notions of faith, identity and freedom of thought. Deeply researched yet written in gentle, lyrical prose, Al Khamis offers a rich portrait of a transformational moment in the region, while evoking the pluralism that defined the height of the Islamic Golden Age.