Review of From Souk to Souk by Robin Ratchford

Robin Ratchford is a writer, traveller and adventurer who has lived in six different countries, and visited more than one hundred and their territories on all seven continents.  He currently lives in Belgium with his dog.  Robin recently won the short story competition that Indie and Proud ran in conjunction with The Writers Drawer.

First of all a Souk is is a market or part of a market in an Arab city.  I think the author presumes that his readers will automatically know this as it is not clearly defined at the beginning.  I went into the book, hazarding a guess, and while it does quickly become apparent what the author is referring to, a brief explanation from the offset would have been nice…

Moan over, this is one of the most engaging and sensually stimulating books that I have read in a long time.  Ratchford says from the offset that some of the tales from his travels are fiction and others are told as it happened.  The fact that, as a reader, you have no idea what is fact and what is embellished, simply adds to the whole mystery and excitement of his exotic travels.  His travels to a whole host of countries, which most people would consider off limits (Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria) to name but three, happened just before the Arab Spring, and Ratchford states that he has deliberately depicted the countries as they were at that moment, rather than portraying them retrospectively.  This, I think was a smart move as he manages to bring humanity to countries that are perceived by the west to be inhumane.  I hope that he writes a sequel, and re-visits these countries as soon as it is safe to do so.

I am a self confessed scaredy cat.  I know that I will never dare venture to any of these countries, however, in a small way; I feel that I have now visited these countries and Ratchford has seared some images that will remain in my mind for a long time to come.  (The image of seeing a giant tadpole like drone, as he flew into Kabul airport.  The notion of Syria being a country that anyone would actually want to visit.   Yemen, and images of the Queen of Sheba.)

With the kindle version coming in at £4.99, Ratchford clearly isn’t about to start pandering to the trend of authors giving their books away for free.  Don’t let the price put you off though.  This is an absolute must read for anyone with a lingering love of travel…and a fear of wandering off the beaten track.

You can find more at http://www.robinratchford.com