Soheir Khashoggi (, born 1947) is an Egyptian-born Saudi Arabian novelist.

Life

Khashoggi was born in Alexandria in 1947. Her father, Muhammad Khashoggi, was of Turkish origin, and the Saudi Royal physician for King Abdulaziz Al Saud, founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Her family surname, Khashoggi, means "spoon maker" (Kaşıkçı) in the Turkish language.

Soheir Khashoggi

Her brother was the arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. She went to the American University of Beirut. She is a fine artist who has a degree from Beirut's Interior Design Center.

Soheir Khashoggi

She divorced her second husband, and her first novel Mirage was published, in 1996 in nineteen languages. She lives in New York. Khashoggi has four daughters.

Soheir Khashoggi

Her three books have been criticised by the academic Layla Al Maleh for reinforcing the American sterotypical view of muslims and in particular arab men. She sees the books as featuring male characters with an expectation of respect and oppressed women characters who resist but accept their position during Khashoggi's melodramatic stories.

Works

Mirage, 1999

Nadia's Song, 2002

Mosaic, 2002

References

1947 births

Living people

Writers from Alexandria

Saudi Arabian people of Turkish descent

Soheir