No Sex in the City in Aussie Readers

Aug 07, 2012 Mary rated it liked it

Quite an easy read and mostly stays true to the chick-lit formula. Young woman trying to find mister right amidst troubles with work and friends. But it was one of the most refreshing books I've read in a while. I enjoyed the cultural context of the book as it explores the lives of rather socially conservative young professional women. With the arranged dating scene creating a different scene to most chick-lit books. There was less jumping into bed with random men and more women knowing what the ...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Bree T rated it liked it

Shelves: arc, australian, contemporary, chick-lit, women-s-fiction, aww2012, cultural

Esma is 28, has a master’s in human resource management and works as a pharmacy recruitment consultant in Sydney. She’s of Turkish origin, has traveled widely, still lives with her parents, has a great group of friends and is looking for Mr Right. She has some criteria though, which does narrow down the search just a little:

He has to be Muslim who speaks good English (Turkish background a bonus)
A Muslim who isn’t fanatical, but not totally clueless either
He has to be educated, employed and care Esma is 28, has a master’s in human resource management and works as a pharmacy recruitment consultant in Sydney. She’s of Turkish origin, has traveled widely, still lives with her parents, has a great group of friends and is looking for Mr Right. She has some criteria though, which does narrow down the search just a little:

He has to be Muslim who speaks good English (Turkish background a bonus)
A Muslim who isn’t fanatical, but not totally clueless either
He has to be educated, employed and care about social justice
Doesn’t have to be super-good looking, but attractive to Esma
Has to exist outside her fantasies
Tired of her failures in family introductions, matchmaking and online dating, Esma forms a ‘No Sex in the City’ club with her three best friends where they meet up regularly to discuss the humour and frustrations in their failure to find their Mr Rights. No Sex in the City, because none of them are having any – two of them in the group are committed virgins and Esma hasn’t even been kissed, preferring to keep all of that until she is married. The other two have had relationships, but only been with one person each. They come from different backgrounds (Turkish, Greek, Indian and Jewish) but have much in common and their friendship, formed at university, has tightened over the years.

Esma isn’t just having trouble finding The One – although there has been not one, but two very interesting developments in that area recently. She is having trouble with her boss, who continues to cross lines and make Esma feel uncomfortable, despite her repeatedly voiced pleas that he not. She’s also worried about a family situation that she feels as though she cannot escape. There isn’t much she wouldn’t endure to guarantee the safety and security of her family but she can see that something is going to have to give, and soon.

I recently won a copy of this novel on a Get Reading! Australia giveaway on twitter. They gave away one copy of each of the 50 Books You Can’t Put Down, asking a question about each. The first to answer the question on a particular book, got that book. I was quite pleased to have won this, I’d seen it a few times beforehand and had seriously considered purchasing it but hadn’t gotten around to it. It arrived in late October and I put it onto my November reading pile

It’s kind of a conservative, ethnic version of Sex And The City. The characters are all very socially aware, have good jobs (could almost be considered overachievers) and bar hop around inner-city Sydney, meeting up for lunches, dinners and drinks to discuss their dating woes – except dating doesn’t really seem to happen in this world. All four women are extremely conservative for this day and age with two committed virgins and the other two girls in the foursome also having a very conservative attitude towards dating and relationships. Esma, our main character and narrator has tried meeting men through the complicated Turkish community network and nothing has worked. She’s ready to branch out, try a few more methods as she’s 28 and she’s ready to really settle down. Her younger sister is married already and she knows that her mother is really keen to see her just as settled and happy. The thing is that even if she finds someone who could be The One, Esma has a secret hanging over her head that she is sworn to never tell, lest it bring shame upon her family. Her morals make it very hard for her to grasp going into relationship without being up front and honest.

Which is kind of interesting, given in this book she actually begins seeing two men. That’s not as seedy as it sounds – they don’t even touch really. Esma doesn’t even like being asked questions about kissing, let alone actually doing any kissing. She’s waiting until she’s married, which is fair enough. That’s her belief system and she sticks to it, no matter what but I did find it a little off putting that she didn’t actually tell the two men that she was seeing the other one. I’m sure she would not have liked to find out that one of them was seeing another girl with intention to move forward so I didn’t really like that. I felt she should’ve been up front and honest about that from the very beginning.

The trouble with her boss I found to be the weakest part of the story. I’m not sure what her boss was trying to achieve, I don’t think it was made clear enough. He was acting like a complete tosser but I can’t quite figure out if he was just seeking to humiliate her or try and ingratiate himself with her in regards to perhaps relieving her of her conservative ways? I don’t know, a lot of the stuff wouldn’t bother me personally as an employee (clearly some were crossing the line) but I couldn’t tell from the way it was written what his real intentions were. At times he was overly familiar with her, at times he was the joking larrikin Aussie pub bloke who said inappropriate and hurtful things (such as embarrassing her about being a virgin) and other times he attempted to be alone with her. It might’ve just all been intimidation tactics but it left me confused.

This one was a quick, fun summer type read that sticks pretty close to a tried and true chick lit style formula although a much more conservative version of. Is there Muslim popular fiction? This might be a breakout novel. ...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Paula Phillips rated it it was amazing

Randa has achieved what many try to do and fail at , she has successfully completed the transisition of writing for children and young persons to writing her first adults novel. I had tried to read her Teen books but found them quite hard to get into , but with No Sex in the City I was hooked from the first page whether it be due to the Jane Austen opener where Randa had used the Pride and Prejudice famous quote to help shape her story or the fact that I could relate and for me , in a way I was Randa has achieved what many try to do and fail at , she has successfully completed the transisition of writing for children and young persons to writing her first adults novel. I had tried to read her Teen books but found them quite hard to get into , but with No Sex in the City I was hooked from the first page whether it be due to the Jane Austen opener where Randa had used the Pride and Prejudice famous quote to help shape her story or the fact that I could relate and for me , in a way I was a Ruby or a Lisa . No Sex in the City follows four best friends since college , together they are a melting pot of cultures but they all have one thing in common - they are all single and definitely not getting any sex on. The main character of the story is Esme - a Muslim who works for a sleazy boss in an Employment agency and due to family constraints and situations she must endure her job. For me, I was able to connect on the second half with family constraints as I am in a similar boat, not as extreme as Esme but still there nonetheless. All Esme wants in life is a Muslim husband and one that will treat her as an equal and is intelligent enough to have a decent conversation with - Will Esme find her Muslim Prince ? Nirvana - the Indian of the group hopes to find herself an Indian prince and when she does and Anil asks her hand in marriage will she accept or will she realise that her family and friends are more important than wealth and fortune ? Ruby- the Greek orthodox is looking for a husband from the Greek community , the other thing though is Ruby is obsessed with Astrology so he has to be compatible with her Gemini. When she sets her sights on Alex the Greek Personal Trainer who is an Aries, will he be compatible or will he be another dud ? Lisa is just looking for Mr. Perfect and at this point in life , she is starting to consider that maybe she is too old for Marriage and it may never happen . Halfway through the novel , I thought Lisa was a lesbian , but she didn't "officially come out" but who knows.
No Sex in the City is an awesome story for all those women in their mid-to-late twenties who believe that maybe they won't get their happily ever after as all their friends are having children and married. But for those women as I sometimes feel myself in that boat - we will get our happily ever after one day.
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