An entry into a different world
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I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, which did what the best books do - taught me something and enriched my understanding of the world and other people.
I knew next to nothing about Egypt, but now I feel that I understand the atmosphere in which the characters lived, their syle(s) of life, and above all about the British Empire and its effect on subject peoples. JB
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Full of passion
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This was a great book, a becon for Arabs and Muslims. The story is passionate on every front, passionate in the love story, passionate in patriotism, passionate in its anguish at the unjust. Mesmerising and captivating. Reading its pages is like being on the ondulating sea, with waves that take you up and down, sometimes rough, sometimes tranquil. I agree with the critic that called "Egypt" the true heroine. The history is infused in the story and you feel trapped in that time, living the same battle lived by many Egyptians, angry at the colonialists and angry still, seeing that 100 years down the line, the same politic is applied under a different banner. But history, as the book says, will run its course. One day it will be our day.
Ahdaf Soueif is marvellous, a model to all the talents of the arabs... something to look up to and be proud of.
My hope now is for someone to turn it into a movie, a sensitive movie that transpires history and tells the story as it truly is.
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A beautifully written book
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Not just a beautiful and moving love story, but a history of Egypt and colonialism. I couldn't put it down.
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A fascinating read
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This amazing book that deals with the intricacies involved when two people from different cultures , from nations that have different histories and directions who love another come to realize that their lives together is a challenge that is not based on love alone and that time hasn't and will never mitigate the inherent differences. This is a must read for those embracing multi-culturalism, cosmopolitanism and the global economy. One thing for sure is that this novel is a thought-provoking, socially challenging and compelling read. I highly recommend it along with:Disciples of Fortune, Sugar Street, The usurper and other Stories
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brilliant
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This is a vast novel which reads as a gripping, hard-to-put-down love story, while at the same time going deep into modern egyptian history and world politics. It is one of the best novels that I have read.
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