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suzea's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
sallythereadinggirl's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This book was quite interesting and my first read from Egypt. The connection between the stories is well made and we switch perspectives quite often. It portraits the life in Egypt in two totally different political circumstances, 90 years apart. This aspect of the story was very interesting.
At sone point the story started to slow down and it was quite lengthy.
At sone point the story started to slow down and it was quite lengthy.
piratequeen's review against another edition
3.0
Beautifully written, and an interesting look into the politics of pre-WWI Egypt. It also had a sweet love story at its core, with characters that were more compelling than those of other books I've been reading lately.
debdeb's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
clarereadstheworld's review against another edition
4.0
Isabel arrives in Cairo in 1997 with a trunk full of her great-grandmother's letters, and most precious belonging. She shares the trunk with Amal, the sister of an American-Egyptian composer she has recently fallen in love with. The two women work together to untangle events of the past through Anna's diaries and letters. The past echos the present as history repeats itself almost 100 years later.
It took me a little while to get into this book, at first it's hard to figure out who is who, and how everyone is related and fits into eveyone else's life. Once I had got all this figured out though (thank goodness for the family tree provided) I came to really enjoy the novel.
Soueif holds absolutely nothing back in her criticism of the British rule in Egypt in the early 1900's (and quite rightly so). The character of Anna shows how the British lived in Egypt, and from her privileged position in society she is able to fully critique the British and their attitudes towards Egypt and the Egyptian population. Sharif and Layla provide and contrast, showing the Egyptian upper class as intelligent, cultured and sophisticated, everything the British didn't believe the Egyptians could be.
As Anna, Sharif and Layla fight for their rights to govern their own country, and to protect and educate their people in 1901, so Amel must lead the same fight in 1997. This semi-political, semi-historical love story does a fantastic job exploring the colonial period of Egypts history, and how the decisions made by the British nearly 100 years are still felt in Egypt today.
As a British citizen, I did not feel proud of my country while reading this novel.
There were one or two minor plot lines I didn't particularly enjoy, or feel were necessary, but I want to avoid spoliers, so I won't go into detail here!
Overall, great exploration or the British rule of Egypt, and why it still matters today. Beautiful love story, well written. Some questionable minor plot details, but on the whole a very good read. Definitely helped me learn a lot about Egypt, and this period of it's history.
It took me a little while to get into this book, at first it's hard to figure out who is who, and how everyone is related and fits into eveyone else's life. Once I had got all this figured out though (thank goodness for the family tree provided) I came to really enjoy the novel.
Soueif holds absolutely nothing back in her criticism of the British rule in Egypt in the early 1900's (and quite rightly so). The character of Anna shows how the British lived in Egypt, and from her privileged position in society she is able to fully critique the British and their attitudes towards Egypt and the Egyptian population. Sharif and Layla provide and contrast, showing the Egyptian upper class as intelligent, cultured and sophisticated, everything the British didn't believe the Egyptians could be.
As Anna, Sharif and Layla fight for their rights to govern their own country, and to protect and educate their people in 1901, so Amel must lead the same fight in 1997. This semi-political, semi-historical love story does a fantastic job exploring the colonial period of Egypts history, and how the decisions made by the British nearly 100 years are still felt in Egypt today.
As a British citizen, I did not feel proud of my country while reading this novel.
There were one or two minor plot lines I didn't particularly enjoy, or feel were necessary, but I want to avoid spoliers, so I won't go into detail here!
Overall, great exploration or the British rule of Egypt, and why it still matters today. Beautiful love story, well written. Some questionable minor plot details, but on the whole a very good read. Definitely helped me learn a lot about Egypt, and this period of it's history.
rhodaj's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
This was my read the world selection for Egypt.
In 1901 Lady Anna leaves England for Egypt and falls in love with an Egyptian man. In 1997, Isabel is an American in love with an Egyptian-American and on discovering her own ancestral link to Egypt, travels there with notebooks and journals she finds on her ancestor’s lives.
The earlier timeline of this book is interesting and well written, however was completely spoilt for me by the later timeline which is just weird and boring and includes a possible unresolved case of incest that is more or less dropped and forgotten about.
There are about four narrators in this book and it was often confusing as to who was narrating, particularly as the transitions between timelines were quite clumsy. As such, the book didn’t have a good flow for me. I also didn’t enjoy the political sections in this book. I’m not bored by politics generally, but the writing was quite dull and boring. The political sections were more interesting when relayed in letter format by Anna.
I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it just focused on Anna and spent more time investing in revealing more about the characters in her part of the story, but as it was written I can’t really say I enjoyed the book much overall which is a pity as I do think some parts of it were quite good. ⭐️⭐️.5/5
This was my read the world selection for Egypt.
In 1901 Lady Anna leaves England for Egypt and falls in love with an Egyptian man. In 1997, Isabel is an American in love with an Egyptian-American and on discovering her own ancestral link to Egypt, travels there with notebooks and journals she finds on her ancestor’s lives.
The earlier timeline of this book is interesting and well written, however was completely spoilt for me by the later timeline which is just weird and boring and includes a possible unresolved case of incest that is more or less dropped and forgotten about.
There are about four narrators in this book and it was often confusing as to who was narrating, particularly as the transitions between timelines were quite clumsy. As such, the book didn’t have a good flow for me. I also didn’t enjoy the political sections in this book. I’m not bored by politics generally, but the writing was quite dull and boring. The political sections were more interesting when relayed in letter format by Anna.
I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it just focused on Anna and spent more time investing in revealing more about the characters in her part of the story, but as it was written I can’t really say I enjoyed the book much overall which is a pity as I do think some parts of it were quite good. ⭐️⭐️.5/5
mxnna's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sophiavass's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
qofdnz's review against another edition
2.0
While the love story element of this book was interesting I could not get into the politics of Egypt. I have no interest in politics at the best of times so a lot of this book left me cold.
yarnylibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
This is a story both beautiful and beautifully told. I recommend putting in some extended reading periods at the beginning ("extended" to me means anything longer than the 10 minutes before I drop off to sleep at night) so that the shifting narratives are firmly rooted and understood. Otherwise, they could really throw a reader off.
I appreciate how this book brought some of Egypt's more recent history to life. I'm not a big reader of history, but I'll take it in fiction. Still, I wish I had a bit more historical background before delving deeply into this (I should have just wrested myself away from the dreamy story and consulted an encyclopedia, but no....) At the risk of sounding like a moron, I'll admit that I struggled with the Arabic names (especially differentiating among them) - maybe some preexposure to actual history would have helped me there. And I didn’t realize there was a glossary until I was over ¾ finished – doh! At least I noticed the family tree at the beginning (and it was really helpful, even if I did find myself "cheating" to predict what would happen).
If you love this type of book, there is a lot to love - 516 pages. I recommend it highly.
I appreciate how this book brought some of Egypt's more recent history to life. I'm not a big reader of history, but I'll take it in fiction. Still, I wish I had a bit more historical background before delving deeply into this (I should have just wrested myself away from the dreamy story and consulted an encyclopedia, but no....) At the risk of sounding like a moron, I'll admit that I struggled with the Arabic names (especially differentiating among them) - maybe some preexposure to actual history would have helped me there. And I didn’t realize there was a glossary until I was over ¾ finished – doh! At least I noticed the family tree at the beginning (and it was really helpful, even if I did find myself "cheating" to predict what would happen).
If you love this type of book, there is a lot to love - 516 pages. I recommend it highly.