As Rich As The King – Abigail Assor

READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Rachel

Sarah is poor, but pretty and French, which gives her standing in Casablanca. Driss is older, quiet and not particularly good looking but he’s rumoured to be the richest guy in the city. Sarah decides she wants a life like his but to get to Driss she will have to cross the gaping divide that separates them. Provocative, immersive, sensual, As Rich as the King is a bittersweet ode to Casablanca.

Home was a falling-down brick building. There was never any hot water … She was about to open the front door when she heard a voice—she knew he’d be here, the little shit … ‘You think you’re better than we are, Lalla Sarah, because you hang out with the rich kids?’ … ‘Of course I’m better than you. I’m French. We’re not the same, idiot.’ As she went inside, she distinctly heard Abdellah hiss, ‘We’re exactly the same.’

RACHEL
● As Rich As The King is touted as a “twisted love story” but I appreciated how it avoided the usual romance markers. Instead it is a layered and nuanced story about desire, class and power. It is also an unorthodox blend of genres, which is something I enjoy in a novel. It moves between a coming-of-age narrative, social critique and psychological study of not just the characters but the city of Casablanca too.

Sarah and Driss work well as figures representative of different factions of Casablanca. Sarah is especially compelling. She is flawed and unsettling, yet feels vividly real. Despite her morally ambiguous thoughts and actions I understood her hunger for a better life and was always rooting for her. While Driss is wealthy, he too is constrained by circumstance and expectation, and the two of them come together in a yin and yang kind of way. The book showed how we are always on the hunt for what we don’t have, as people and nations and societies. I loved it.

SALLY
●   In the first analysis, this novel is about love affairs. Primarily it is about a love affair between Sarah and her rich boyfriend Driss. It is also about Sarah’s love and desire for money and to find an escape from her impoverished life on the street. Over-arching all of that, there is a love affair between the author and her native city, Casablanca.

However, closer analysis shows it to be a book about the dynamics of power. Virtually all the characters in the book are trapped by the power wielded over them by others. There are cultural and religious dynamics at play as well as social hierarchies and for Sarah at least, the life she craves is revealed to be just as corrupt as the one she inhabits. 

Casablanca as a character all on its own is painted with the colour and depth that you might expect from a native. No holds are barred. We see the dark and the light of it, the glittery and the filthy. I enjoyed it and felt sure of its authenticity. There was much debate (again) within our group about the ending. I choose to feel positive that two people from opposite sides of the tracks can actually break the mould and create a different future to that dictated by  society.

BRIDGET
●  Set in Casablanca, As Rich as a King is a love story that explores how social power and hierarchy shape the lives of its characters. Each character struggles to find their place within this structured world.  Assor’s writing captures the complexity of this world with sharp, often humorous observations, making the story engaging without feeling heavy, as we follow Sarah, who is determined to escape her life of poverty and has no shame in doing what she needs to get ahead. Overall, it’s a well-written and an enjoyable read.

JODIE
●  As Rich as the King is a culturally rich novel that pulls you right into Morocco and all its layers. The story takes you on an emotionally complex journey with Sarah, whose choices aren’t always the most ethical, but honestly, I still found myself on her side the whole time. She’s trying to climb out of a world that doesn’t give her many options and that makes her actions feel understandable. The Casablanca scene was one of my favourites, vivid, intense and almost cinematic. I also really enjoyed how the book digs into the class and social divide showcasing how much power and privilege shape people’s lives. I found Rach’s research on the history of Casablanca really interesting and it really helped with overall understanding of the writer’s intentions.

TESSA
●  I had a bit of a mixed experience with As Rich as the King. For the first half of the book, the story took its time to get going, and I caught myself growing impatient, waiting for something to happen. Assor’s writing is easy to read but it felt a bit distant at first, and I didn’t immediately connect with the characters. But somewhere past the halfway mark, things shifted for me. The main characters Driss and Sarah began to open up emotionally, and I became far more invested in where their story was going.  

What really stood out for me was the setting. Assor brings 1990s Casablanca to life in vivid, almost overwhelming detail. The heat, the food stalls, the noise and chaos of the streets, the incredibly gory ‘Eid’ celebrations, and the stark divide between rich and poor neighbourhoods all combine to make the city feel like its own character. This grounds it in a sharply observed cultural and social landscape. I appreciated this, even though I’ll admit it put me off ever wanting to visit Casablanca.

The themes of class inequality, gender boundaries, privilege, and the cost of ambition are some of the main themes of the novel. Nothing is romanticised, especially not Sarah and Driss’s relationship. I actually liked that it didn’t fit any neat romantic pattern. There are shifting power dynamics and vulnerability in both characters, and I felt it was never one-sided. I found Sarah a compellingly flawed protagonist and not always easy to like.  She is opportunistic and calculating at times, yet also vulnerable, observant, and profoundly shaped by her limited choices and circumstance. Her decisions are not always comfortable to read about, but they feel understandable within her social and emotional reality. Driss is similarly layered privileged, yet insecure and emotionally distant. 

Overall, As Rich as the King is an atmospheric, and psychologically rich novel that uses a coming-of-age relationship to explore class, desire, and the longing to transcend one’s origins. Its greatest strengths are its evocative setting, bold social critique, and complex characters. By the time I reached the end of the book it had certainly grown on me.  The ending is left open to interpretation, which proved a lively topic for discussion at our book club meeting.

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Published in French in 2021
Translated into English by Natalia Lehrer in 2023
Pushkin Press
199 pages