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A review by always_need_more_books
The Girls from Alexandria by Carol Cooper
3.0
I’d never read a book set in Egypt before and The Girls from Alexandria is a vibrant and evocative read. Told over dual timelines, we meet 70 year old Nadia who is in hospital after a seizure. The doctors are a little puzzled by what is actually wrong with her but she is certainly confused and alone so she heading towards a nursing home. She is increasingly desperate to track down her older sister Simone, whom she idealised as a child and who disappeared over 50 years ago after leaving Alexandria to travel to Europe. Apart from a collection of postcards Simone sent Nadia with cryptic messages, there are no other clues to her whereabouts.
We also hear of Nadia’s childhood and young adult life in Alexandria starting in the early 1950s when Nadia is around 6 years old. I found the descriptions of the food and culture fascinating as well as the various political upheavals in Egypt which went on over her life. Nadia marries a doctor and ends up living in London but is unable to have children herself. The timeline of isn’t always linear which I’m guessing is to demonstrate Nadia’s confusion in remembering her past but it seems to work. She looks for her sister on and off over the years but it is only when she is in hospital with her collection of postcards that clues seem to come together for her. A friendly nurse lends her an iPad and she is able to start browsing the internet for people from her past, in an attempt to find out what happened to Simone.
This is a great mixture of historical fiction layered with mystery. Nadia’s confusion adds an extra element to the book as we don’t know if her memories are true. I felt sorry for Nadia in hospital, especially as she doesn’t want to go into a home but she is a character who is tenacious and stubborn.
Although not a memoir, the author grew up in Alexandria and this is what brought the city of Alexandria alive to me. It was lovely to travel to a different time and place for a while and if you love historical fiction, this one is worth a try!
We also hear of Nadia’s childhood and young adult life in Alexandria starting in the early 1950s when Nadia is around 6 years old. I found the descriptions of the food and culture fascinating as well as the various political upheavals in Egypt which went on over her life. Nadia marries a doctor and ends up living in London but is unable to have children herself. The timeline of isn’t always linear which I’m guessing is to demonstrate Nadia’s confusion in remembering her past but it seems to work. She looks for her sister on and off over the years but it is only when she is in hospital with her collection of postcards that clues seem to come together for her. A friendly nurse lends her an iPad and she is able to start browsing the internet for people from her past, in an attempt to find out what happened to Simone.
This is a great mixture of historical fiction layered with mystery. Nadia’s confusion adds an extra element to the book as we don’t know if her memories are true. I felt sorry for Nadia in hospital, especially as she doesn’t want to go into a home but she is a character who is tenacious and stubborn.
Although not a memoir, the author grew up in Alexandria and this is what brought the city of Alexandria alive to me. It was lovely to travel to a different time and place for a while and if you love historical fiction, this one is worth a try!