#ArabSecrets is the hashtag being used to market Sheikha Hend Al Qassemi's first book, The Black Book of Arabia.
The paperback collects new, extended versions of the candid real-life stories, which were originally columnised in Velvet Magazine, the fashion and lifestyle magazine of which Sheikha Hend is editor-in-chief.
The stories leap across social class, strata and gender, zeroing on private tales of love, betrayal ad heroism from across the Gulf.
The Black Book of Arabia will be launched with a public signing at Book World by Kinokuniya in The Dubai Mall on Thursday, October 22, at 5.30pm.
Amongst the stories promises are: “A princess’s best friend tries to steal her wedding, right down to her nuptial shoes.
“A bride mysteriously goes blind on her wedding day.
“A girl is kidnapped by her abusive mother from her home in LA and held hostage in the Egyptian desert.
“A man tiring of his marriage decides to take a second wife – but receives a nasty shock when he underestimates her.”
Sheikha Hend is an Emirati writer, artist, photographer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who divides her time between Sharjah and Doha.
She is editor-of-chief of high-end global fashion magazine Velvet, runs the fashion label House of Hend, and was chosen as the World Fashion Organisation’s Goodwill Ambassador for Qatar.
The Black Book of Arabia is published by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing.
rgarratt@Thenational.ae
