This is one of those books you really shouldn't judge by its cover. I was totally sucked in and completely fascinated. It probably helped that I wasn't very familiar with the history. Still, the way the author weaved the historical details (which are very accurate) in and out of the plot was just plain skillful. The story follows Agnes Shanklin, a middle-aged single woman from Cleveland, who decides to travel to Egypt alone after WWI. Her journey happens to coincide with the Cairo Conference of 1921, and she comes in contact with many of the notable figures of the day including Winston Churchill, Gertrude Bell, and Lawrence of Arabia. As Agnes tours through Egypt, Lebanon and Israel, you get a real taste of the stickiness of politics in the Middle East and a lot of background as to why things are the way they are today.
If you have any interest at all in this time period, or you just love historical fiction like me, I highly recommend this.
3 comments:
Oh yes, this sound very interesting to me.
that sounds very fascinating. You always find great books! i am jealous of your talent!
I have this and am just waiting for a moment to squeeze it in...I've only heard good things about it!
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