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The Map of Love Paperback – 23 Mar 2000

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Ahdaf Soueif (Author)
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Ahdaf Soueif (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 65 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Paperback: 544 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition edition (23 Mar. 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0747545634
  • ISBN-13: 978-8171086603
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 3.2 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 82,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon Review

Ahdaf Soueif's The Map of Love is a massive family saga, a story that draws its readers into two moments in the complex, and troubled, history of modern Egypt. The story begins in New York, in 1997: Isabel Parkman discovers an old trunk full of documents--some in English, some in Arabic--in her dying mother's apartment. Omar-al- Ghamrawi, a man with whom she is falling in love, directs her to his sister, Amal, in Cairo. Together the two women begin to uncover the stories embedded in the journal of Lady Anna Winterbourne (who travels to Egypt in 1900 and falls in love with Sharif Pasha al- Barudi, an Egyptian Nationalist) and the unsuspected connections between their own families. British colonialism, Egyptian nationalism, the clash of cultures in the Middle East in 1900 and the present day: the different narratives of The Map of Love weave a subtle, and reflective, tale of love across culture and conflict--the ways in which relations between individuals may (or may not) make the difference. "I am in an English autumn in 1897 and Anna's troubled heart lies open before me": Amal's response to Anna Winterbourne's journal could be a description of how to read this fascinating book, its invitation to use words as a means to travel through time, space and identity. --Vicky Lebeau --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Vivid, passionate and shedding, as true love does, a brilliant, revealing light on the world beyond itself."--"The Sunday Telegraph" (London)"Epic--. Soueif is at her most eloquent on the subject of her homeland, her prose rich with historical detail and debate. Ultimately, Egypt emerges as the true heroine of this novel."--"The Independent" (London)"Ahdaf Soueif has a talent for blending the personal and political and getting under the skin of each one of her characters."--"Independent on Sunday" (London)"A magnificent work, reminiscent of Marquez and Allende in its breadth and confidence."--"The Guardian""A bold and vibrant novel--. This is political fiction that is also unashamedly romantic--. A triumphant achievement."--Penelope Lively, "Literary Review"

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsA fine romance.
By Mary Whipple HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER on 22 Sept. 2003
Format: Paperback
If you love books which transport you to another world (in this case, at least two different worlds in two different time periods), which give you fascinating insights into other cultures, which incorporate a good deal of history into an exciting and completely developed story line, and which introduce you to a main character so charming and intelligent that you hate to have her disappear at the end of the novel, you will be thoroughly captivated by Map of Love.
Anna Winterbourne, an aristocratic young widow from England, travels to Egypt in the late 19th century during the height of British Empire. She notes the condescension towards the Egyptians and is intelligently critical of military "adventures" there and in other Arab states such as the Sudan, South Africa, and Palestine. As she comes to know the Egyptian people and falls in love with an Egyptian, the reader--along with Anna's granddaughter and great-granddaughter, who are reading the letters and diaries which reveal her story--learns much about the past history which has so complicated presentday relations between western and Arab countries.
Like most romances, this one requires you to accept a very high level of coincidence, but that is more than offset by fine descriptive writing, fully drawn characters, and the placing of a great many recent Middle Eastern events into their Arab contexts. This Egyptian author succeeds in presenting events from an Arab point of view to a western audience--a view that is culturally honest without being polemical. Mary Whipple
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5.0 out of 5 starssix stars .... at least
By das1@lineone.net on 5 Aug. 2001
Format: Paperback
The book shows two snapshots of Egypt, at the start and the end of the 20th Century. There are many similar problems which Egypt faces but essentially, despite all the political manoeuvres the problems get worse.
The history was not well known to me, and with reading this book and English Passengers I have learnt far more about the dodgy british colonial past than any history lessons ever taught me.
But the book is much more than that. It brings together the two eras, with a wonderfull love story. To have a book with four heroines Anna , Isabel, Amal and Layla is a real treat. The writing does evoke the times and the places very well, you can feel the heat of the desert and the sand ( and that was not just because I was reading the book on Weymouth beach !)
Yes I will admit some of the politics, but mainly the number of arab names, lost me and I did not fully get the tapestry bit, but that does not make it any the less a great book and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
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5.0 out of 5 starsEducation that is by no means dull
By A Customer on 29 Aug. 2000
Format: Paperback
This is the second book that I have read by Ahdaf Soueif (following "In the Eye of the Sun") and I am astounded by the fact that one woman could write two such different novels in a space of a couple of years. This is a story spanning almost two hundred years of Egyptian history through a double time line. The concept is great, and although at first it may be confusing, the family tree provided and Ahdaf Soueif's superb writing abilities soon overcome this. I must confess that I knew little of the British occupation of Egypt (even though I am part English) and so, this book has contributed vastly to my education on world matters as well as my own country's history. I find the way she tackles subjects that are still under the spotlight in Egypt (aswell as the rest of the Arab world), such as feminism, the Palestinian/Israeli issue and even terrorism, commendable. Having visited the country recently, her concerns over these issues, are well voiced and still demanding - to various extents - to be solved. The human element of love and family simply serves to make the historical factor more realistic and poignent. Once again, a book that must be read by all; British, Egyptian or otherwise.
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5.0 out of 5 starsI would only change the title
By A. Peel on 15 July 2002
Format: Paperback
If someone selected this work based on the title, they may well be disappointed, or alternatively, they may overlook a great work which delves into the history of Egypt, in particular Egypt's relationship with the English over the last hundred years, in the context of a beautiful, cross-cultural, cross-generational, love affair.
...the main character, Anna, is undoubtedly exceptional, however, I am certain that a tiny handful of English women of her time had the same open-minded attitude to the Egyptians. Never is it suggested that Anna had an easy ride as a result of the choice she made to marry an Egyptian. She remained an outsider to the English and the Egyptians, to a very large extent, hence her need to write these fascinating diaries and letters.The risk of this Anglo-Egyptian liaison is very high for Anna and her husband. She is rejected by most of her English counterparts in Egypt and the price her husband ultimately pays, possibly as a result of his liaison with her, is irreversible.
Despite the fact that this is fiction, I would still say that fortunately individuals such as Anna did what little they could to try to educate others in England on what being Egyptian actually meant.First-hand experience is perhaps the best way to achieve profound, cultural understanding, and only when fully immersed in a foreign world can people begin to comprehend the value of cultural integration. The English in England who had not seen or lived what the Egyptians were battling with at the turn of the century could not begin to understand what was important to Egypt, and yet they were controlling the country.
Soueif, born in Cairo and educated in Egypt and England, is in a perfect position to paint both the English and the Egyptian picture, and she does so from the most open-minded, factually-based perspective we could dream of. Her vision, her writing skill and her knowledge are what we need to move forward in society as a whole.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Navigation through time place and generations eventually defeated me and I have not finished it.

Published 7 months ago by C.H.Bulman
5.0 out of 5 starsA dip into foreign affairs that I have not come across before....

I have read this before, when I got it from the library, but decided that I needed to have it handy to read more slowly and take in. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Ms Joy Kay
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

good read and enjoyed enormously have passed it onto several others.

Published 13 months ago by nicola eliott lockhart
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Romance of History

1997. “A story can start from the oddest things. For Amal al-Ghamrawi, this story started with a trunk”. Inside Amal finds letters and dairies hidden for almost a hundred years. Read more

Published 13 months ago by gerardpeter
5.0 out of 5 starsA TREAT FOR A READER

This is one of the most beautifully written book I have ever reaf. It is a poignant love story set over generations and is linked to tne histories of the time. Read more

Published 17 months ago by h
4.0 out of 5 starsRichly detailed novel of Egypt

Firstly, I think the cover and title of The Map Of Love does its content a disservice. From the moody image and brief synopsis, I was expecting a giddy, breathless period love... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Stephanie Jane
2.0 out of 5 starsTwo Stars

Not the easiest book to read! Interesting background but confusing..

Published 23 months ago by Lesley Anderson
5.0 out of 5 starsA fascinating story involving two women at different times in ...

A fascinating story involving two women at different times in their lives and the country they live ,it makes you want to know about the involvement of UK in and after the last war... Read more

Published 24 months ago by joyce mcpherson
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Best book EVER!

Published on 15 Oct. 2014 by W Tandy
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

This book is amazing, a gripping read, beautifully written.

Published on 2 Sept. 2014 by B. Hussain

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