Author Zoe Ferraris Talks About Her Novels and Future Work at Campbell Library

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can seem like a mysterious place for most people. Bay Area author Zoe Ferraris, 40, knew this, and as a result, decided to write novels that could inform people about this very distinct and private country.

“We make a lot of political and cultural decisions based on our misconceptions,” Ferraris said after her presentation at the Wednesday night. “It is important we learn as much as we can and debunk as many myths as we can.”

Ferraris lived in Saudi Arabia for almost a year with her then-husband, a Saudi, and child. She is still very close to her former husband and his family, and still visits Saudi Arabia regularly.

“I spent 10 years telling people I lived in Saudi Arabia and that my daughter was part Saudi,” Ferraris told an attentive group during her presentation.

Casual conversations about the subject led her to realize that people knew very little about Saudi Arabia. “I started getting sick of that … and thought, why don’t I just write a book about it?”

Ferraris went on to publish two novels with the intent of achieving this pedagogic aim. She put a particular emphasis on illustrating the reality of gender relations in this distinct Islamic nation.

Her first novel, Finding Nouf, was published in 2008 and followed Nayir Sharqui, a devout Muslim desert guide, who investigates the death of a wealthy 16-year-old Saudi girl in the city of Jeddah, along with the help of a progressive female forensic scientist named Katya Hijazi.

Her second novel, City of Veils, published on Aug. 9, is another murder-mystery and sequel featuring the same two characters, with another story about an American woman who is looking for her missing husband.

“Gender segregation is very real in Saudi Arabia," said Ferraris. "It does not just affect women; it affects men as well. It is difficult for strangers of the opposite sex to interact and meet and get to know each other in a way that would lead to marriage.”

In the books, the reader gets insight into the difficulties of gender relationships in Saudi Arabia. The relationship between Nayir and Katya is used as a vehicle by Ferraris to help the reader decipher the important aspects of male-female relationships in Saudi Arabia.

“Nayir doesn’t want to talk to strange women, and Katya thinks he is really backwards,” said Ferraris.

Social norms do not allow men in Saudi Arabia to freely approach women in the street, and as a result, Nayir is unable to carry out certain parts of the investigation. Similar obstacles are faced by Katya on her side of the investigation, which she needs Nayir’s help to overcome.

“The two of them are forced to work together,” she says.

Ferraris insist that Saudi Arabia is not as black and white as some people believe. There are contradictions, as in any society, and that's what she finds most intriguing.

“There are very rigid interpretations of Islam that forbid listening to music, yet it is a country where they have outdoor rock concerts at the beach,” said Ferraris. “My overall impression every time I go back is that this is a country full of wonderful contradictions.”

Ferraris is finishing the third installment of the series, which she believes will be her last. Her next project after this series is finished will be a historical novel about Native Americans and California history.

“This is something not a lot of people write about,” said Ferraris.

This topic will be new to her, and she says she is doing it out of desire to learn and inform. Fiction, she believes, is a powerful learning device.

“I just think fiction is the most enjoyable way of learning about something.”