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A review by yarnylibrarian
The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif
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.