New book: "playing cards in cairo"

[jewel]

Looks an interesting read:
This account of life in Cairo is sex and the city with a difference. Young Cairene women are as elegant and as sex-obsessed as their New York counterparts but their every action is monitored by bullying, protective brothers and nosy doormen. A circle of sisters, friends and neighbours meet each evening at Roda's apartment to play tarneeb (a simplified form of bridge) and to chew over their frustrations with love, work and families. When tiresome menfolk call them on their mobiles, the lies come tripping.
Hugh Miles, a British freelance journalist, meets Roda at a party and is smitten by her Nefertiti grace. A doctor and fortunately brotherless, Roda is freer than most of her friends. But she still cannot easily date in public, let alone visit Hugh at his apartment. So he too, a lone male, is drawn into the tarneeb sessions.
Hugh quickly gets to understand the prevailing angst. Yosra, hooked on prescription drugs, is desperate at 33 to find a husband. Amira, secretly married, is frustrated in her marketing career by an Islamist boss. Nadia has an abusive husband. Reem, disfigured by cosmetic surgery gone wrong, is unable to marry her boyfriend because he is a Copt. Hugh himself, if he is to marry his Roda, will have to convert to Islam, a process that is daunting for an Egyptian Copt but which, for a foreign Christian, turns out to be as easy as buying a bus ticket


Mr Miles opens windows to a little- known side of Cairo in a way that carries a faint whiff of Waguih Ghali's wonderful 1964 book “Beer in the Snooker Clubâ€

[Lisak]

I saw this in Borders last week and have put it on my birthday list. It sounds really interesting.

[Ashtree0]

I've just finished reading this book - started it yesterday and finished it this morning. I loved it! It was very interesting hearing about the challenges of an intercultural relationship from a mans perspective. In addition to that it was such easy reading - a bit of light relief from the historical books I've been reading recently. This isn't a complete book of fluff, the author covers some very interesting issues that modern Cairene women face but also as a journalist gives a good insight into the political landscape of the middle east. He also describes the sights and smells of Cairo very well - I could almost be back there!

Once I started this book I couldn't put it down. It's currently very cheap on Amazon!

[HEPZIBAH]

A group of friends and I were talking about this book very recently. It seems we all want to read it but none of us have got round to it yet. It has been on my 'next book order' for some while but I really must read all (well some of) the books that are piled up already before I dare buy anything else!

[Who2]

Funny I'm reading this at present Beer in the Snooker Club..........

[timetraveller]

I read this last year. Although it strikes a chord I liked it but didn't love it to be honest. One I read recently which I really did like is called Ruby and Iris (or perhaps the other way around). It's about a lady in her 80's who worked in Cairo during the war and subsequently inherited a house and returned there to live. She has lived there alone except for 'Mahmood' and 'Auntie' her friends/carers for years when out of the blue her very troubled 19yr old granddaughter pitches up and upsets the status quo.. It's a novel set in two time zones, wartime and modern day Cairo and the respective descriptions of the city are fascinating, as is the depiction of the psychological aspects of the developing relationship between the two women. I lent it to a Canadian woman who went home for medical treatment but is due back soon. If she returns it I will happily pass it on if anybody is interested in reading it.

[Ashtree0]

One I read recently which I really did like is called Ruby and Iris (or perhaps the other way around).

I've seen this book for sale on the Oxfam book website (it's one way to justify buying more books!) I'll take your recommendation and give this one a whirl! Iris and Ruby is also available second hand on Amazon for a good price!

[Lisak]

It is sitting in a big pile of books I have to read, and the pile is getting bigger instead of going down.
Looking forward to reading it.

[Ruby Slippers]

Iris and Ruby is written by Rosie Thomas and a wonderful read - but I AM a Rosie Thomas fan!