He through a friend comes under the influence of radical extremists, and with this friend takes a decision without really thinking it through and realising what the consequences could be. He has lost the spirited American wife that he fell in love with, Their son Faisal on the other hand is caught between two cultures and feels accepted in neither. Rosalie had worked at becoming the typical Saudi wife and it is this fact that Abdullah bemoans.

This is something she never thought her 'modern' husband would do. It is at this point that Rosalie is devastated to find out that Abdullah has a second wife, who is much younger and that they have been married for two years. She had always had a hankering to go back so when they married, much to the disapproval of his family, they returned and as the book opens they have been married for twenty years and have two children a boy and a girl. He is from Saudi Arabia and she while American grew up in Saudi Arabia as her father worked in the oil industry. I enjoy reading books that take me to another part of the world that I will never experience and the author made it so real to me.Rosalie meets wealthy Abdullah Baylani while at college in America. This was a book I found to be well written and engrossing and one that I was not able to put down. The Ruins of Us is a timely story about intolerance, family, and the injustices we endure for love that heralds the arrival of an extraordinary new voice in contemporary fiction. When Faisal makes a choice that could destroy everything his embattled family holds dear, they all must confront difficult truths as they fight to preserve what remains of their world.

Meanwhile, Abdullah and Rosalie’s consuming personal entanglements blind them to the crisis approaching their sixteen-year-old son, Faisal, whose deepening resentment toward their lifestyle has led to his involvement with a controversial sheikh. That discovery plunges their family into chaos as Rosalie grapples with leaving the country, her life, and her family behind. More than two decades after moving to Saudi Arabia and marrying powerful Abdullah Baylani, American-born Rosalie learns that her husband has taken a second wife. The Ruins of Us is a compelling, timely debut novel that explores the loneliness of expatriate life and the dangers of intolerance, as well as the things we'll do for love.

The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen