A review by shhchar
The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif

3.0

I hesitate on giving this a four star review as opposed to a three though I'm sure it's being affected by my recent finishing of the novel. It is beautifully written: an important crash course on colonialism, a walk through the talk that turns politics into action, and a love letter to Egypt and fellow countries that have been subjugated by Britain, France, Italy, and the Zionists (- language I am using to reference the book's as I know discourse on this subject has radicalized much more since its original publishing in 1999.)

The bad taste in my mouth does not come from the historical meat of this book but from the modern romantic plot.

Spoiler

I simply am not interested and am disturbed by a brief introduction of incest between 'Omar possibly being Isabel's father as he had an affair with her mother and she popped out 9 months later . . . and then her continuing on to be deludedly and raptly in love with him as she learns that he knew this potential all along and continued to have sex with her leading to another baby that could be both his child and grandchild . . . Writing this all out is like WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those who do not wish spoilers let me hint that my opinion has more grounding than the typical "I don't like these two characters together." When this came into being it jarred me out of what was otherwise a total adoration for this book.

As Map of Love was written in 1999, I kept having flashes of how it captures such a raw moment in time and contains the gloom that comes with the author/characters reading the signs and knowing what onslaught is on the rise in these nations invaded by colonizers. I absolutely recommend a read if you are interested in this too.

12/22 - bonked down to three stars. Incest doesn't age well