It may seem presumptuous for me to say so, but I think writing a novel set in SA is not a good idea for anyone without extended personal experience in the country. The country is not only complex and largely hidden from sight to outsiders, but it is burdened with an abundance of stereotypes, biases, and gratuitous assumptions held by westerners.

Even long-term expatriates there tend to live in western compounds and seldom get out into areas where ordinary Saudis live.

I can not, at the moment, think of any novel set in SA which did not trade completely in invidious stereotypes and two-dimensional characters. Part of the reason is that Saudi society is not easy for an outsider to get to know and part is that westerners tend to hold so many preconceptions about the place.

Your background suggests that you are now living in Turkey. Perhaps, you would be better positioned to write a novel set there, a place of which you have some personal experience. It is certainly exotic enough a place to set a novel in.

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00abuse

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From the sounds of it you have not been to Saudi Arabia, so the question is how can you write about a place and not been there. I lived there for six and a half years. Now to answer yur questions as best as I can.

There are Saudi drivers, cleaners, etc, in the Kingdom. However, the percentage would be between 1 to 5 percent and 5 percent may be high. A lot of these type jobs are beneith what a Saudi will do for work.

I don't think the male drivers have time to play dominos, etc. They usually have other duties too.

Yes, the Saudi's have a lower class.

The saudis don't have too many motor bikes at all in the Kingdom.

There is a taxi service.

There is a local bus service. They are usually mini-busses and operate mainly in the cities.

Hope this has helped.

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00abuse

Hi,

I must say i agree with your other replies, i dont think you can write a novel about this place unless you have lived here. I have been here 8 months and the stereotypes i heard before i came here were very far off. I love this country personally and i plan on writing a book about my experiences here when i go home if i go home.
This is a country that needs to be exoerienced before you can write about it.
Sorry. That's just my opinion.

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00abuse