Abstract: In the four Kuwaiti novels that form the basis of this study, places with recognizable names do not feature simply as decor, serving to make them more realistic, but are closely linked to the unfolding action and maintain a complex relationship with the inner lives of the characters. Idealized through nostalgia or dreams, these are depressing places where time seems to stand still, open, welcoming, and protective places, or closed spaces, hostile to outsiders.
