Rose’s Diaries

by Reem Al-Kamali

Rūza is a devoted reader and scholar, with a gift for writing. But after leaving school, she’s forbidden from joining her classmates to study Arabic literature in Damascus. Instead, she must return to her father’s house in the Shindagha district of Dubai, and await her family’s decisions on her future.

It’s the mid-1960s – a time of independence movements and the rise of Arab nationalism, before the founding of the United Arab Emirates. Rūza watches and listens in silence, pouring out her anger in her secret diaries. She tosses the notebooks into the waters of Dubai’s Creek, since it is shameful for a woman to write so creatively, but she longs for the freedom to express herself…

Genres: Fiction

245 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

ريم الكمالي

Reem al-Kamali is a novelist, writer and researcher from the UAE, born in 1972. She is an editor of the cultural section of the Emirati Al-Bayan newspaper. Her published works include the novels The Sultanate of Hormuz (2013), which was awarded the Owais Prize for Creativity in 2015, The Statue of Dalma (2018) winner of the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity, and Rose’s Diary (2021). In 2015, she took part in the writers’ workshop (Nadwa) for talented young writers organized by IPAF, where she worked on The Statue of Dalma. Reem al-Kamali studied history at university and is fascinated by archaeology, art, myths and culture in general.

Reviews

[Enigma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not disappointed, coz my fellow Arab writers are usually not that good in writing novels. Aside from big Arab novelists , most of the Arabic stories/novels are not good to read. Best thing is, this “book?” is titled “Roses’s Diaries” but still, doesn’t have diaries traits. The chapters are too short, some of them have half a page of writing only! No inclusion of time at the beginning of the chapter to let it feel like a diary. Sadly, most Arab novelists write to attack the bad environment & up bringing they themselves lived regardless of the big picture. They love to show how upset they are with their surroundings showing of supremacy & arrogant above everyone. And it clearly showed here. Just because they were not writers like her, or having a short hair cut , she secluded herself. She could have had healthy conversations with her uncle, came closer to her grandmother, but no. She was closing her self up. I would never recommend such a diary to teenage coz its showing them how to shut down everyone & cry in private.