Dalia Azim

I feel like I'm visiting ALL the countries in my reading this year. This starts in 1950s revolutionary Egypt, then moving to a few other places, mostly places in America in the following decades. A young girl escapes arranged marriage by fleeing with the man she loves to America. The narrative follows a handful of characters in a family, which is just enough to keep it more interesting: the escaped bride and groom, their daughter, and the groom's brother who was incarcerated for most of his life and spent a lot of time trying to figure out why . It's a novel filled with rich detail on the culture of Egypt, so I'm glad it found its way to being published and I'm glad I read it. In spirit, it reminded me a bit of one of my favorite books: 'The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing' by Mira Jacob.… (més)