A fiercely enjoyable feminist fairytale Even though Meryem Alaoui's debut novel "Straight from the Horse's Mouth" centres on a female character working in a field – sex work – that is often, at least in Arabic literature, linked to Morocco, it does so with humour, warmth, and a tumbling, cartwheeling taste for the fantastic. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book In 2003, first-time actress Najat Bensalem starred in a film written and directed by Jacques Doillon. She played the titular role of Raja, a nineteen-year-old servant and part-time sex worker who – in tired and predictable fashion – becomes the love interest of her employer, a wealthy, fifty-something Frenchman.