East of Mecca

This moving and unforgettable novel, East of Mecca, tells a timely, harrowing, and heartbreaking story of love and betrayal, the transcendent power of sisterhood, and the ultimate price of oppression. Driven by financial desperation, Sarah and Max Hayes are seduced by promises of a glamorous expatriate lifestyle in Saudi Arabia. Sarah surrenders her career when Max accepts a prestigious job with Ocmara Oil Company and they relocate their family to the shores of the Persian Gulf. Locked inside the heavily-guarded Ocmara compound, Sarah becomes invisible within the male-dominated, fundamentalist, Islamic Kingdom, which is governed by sharia law. Gradually, she is drawn into a clandestine, illicit friendship with Yasmeen, a Muslim Saudi woman. Together they find freedom beneath the veils and behind the walls of the Saudi women

Sheila Flaherty is a writer and clinical psychologist who specializes in helping people navigate through life changes with grace and ease. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Houston. Flaherty earned her Ph. D. in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. Growing up an ＂Army brat＂ and as a young woman she lived in numerous places in the states and overseas, including Germany and Singapore. Her life experiences and extensive education make her a kind, intuitive, and life-transforming therapist. Flaherty has had a thriving private counseling practice in the Chicago area for the past 34 years, except for one year spent in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Flaherty has always been passionately drawn to righting injustice. While living in Saudi, her compassion led her to practice counseling secretly, helping to empower the American and Saudi women she met. This experience inspired her to write East of Mecca, a novel about women living within the confines of a violent, oppressive, male-dominated society. Known for her ability to immediately immerse her readers in a scene and leaving them longing for more, Flaherty has placed in several screenwriting competitions, including Big Break, BlueCat, CineStory, and the Nicholl Fellowships. In 2010, 2013, and 2016, she was awarded residencies at the Ragdale Foundation for her work in fiction. East of Mecca was awarded a Silver Nautilus Book Award in Fiction for 2015, and is IndieReader Approved with a 5-star review. East of Mecca has a near 5-star review from Amazon.com readers, and is also an Amazon.com Best Seller in Middle Eastern Literature. Flaherty’s life mission continues to be to enlighten, inspire, and empower others for the greater good.