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The Map of Love

Ahdaf Soueif,

أهداف سويف

3.81 · Rating details · 5,785 ratings · 879 reviews

With her first novel, In the Eye of the Sun, Ahdaf Soueif garnered comparisons to Tolstoy, Flaubert, and George Eliot. In her latest novel, which was shortlisted for Britain's prestigious Booker Prize, she combines the romantic skill of the nineteenth-century novelists with a very modern sense of culture and politics--both sexual and international.

At either end of the ...more

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Paperback, 529 pages

Published September 12th 2000 by Anchor Books (first published 1999)

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Mar 31, 2010 Niledaughter rated it it was amazing

Shelves: east-and-west, favorites, egypt-fiction

I loved this book and I enjoyed reading it so much!, I ranked it as 5 even I know that some parts at the beginning may seem boring or confusing because of the multiple narrators & the jumping through time; back & forward , but indeed once I got caught with the protagonists..I simply loved them ,lived with them and shared their joy & pain!

It is a brilliant analysis (political , historical ,economical, cultural & social) of Egypt - who is the actual heroine in my opinion - within ...more

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Feb 04, 2020 Cheryl rated it really liked it

Shelves: africa, global-intrigue, women-and-books, fiction, 2020-reads

"How can it be that a set of the shoulders, the rhythm of a stride, the shadow of a strand of hair falling on a forehead can cause the tides of the heart to ebb and to flow?"

Ah, the throes of love. When her husband dies, a woman leaves England for Egypt, lured by paintings which helped her grieve. She enters Egypt as the resistance fights against British occupation. She falls in love with an Egyptian politician during a time when a woman was ostracized by her European community for being with an "How can it be that a set of the shoulders, the rhythm of a stride, the shadow of a strand of hair falling on a forehead can cause the tides of the heart to ebb and to flow?"

Ah, the throes of love. When her husband dies, a woman leaves England for Egypt, lured by paintings which helped her grieve. She enters Egypt as the resistance fights against British occupation. She falls in love with an Egyptian politician during a time when a woman was ostracized by her European community for being with an Egyptian, albeit a wealthy, titled, one.

One hundred years later, Anna's great-granddaughter, Isabel, an American, finds her great-grandmother's journals and enters her world of love. She cannot, however, translate the journals written in Arabic, so she enlists the help of, Amal. Amal is an Arab woman, separated from her husband and children, who returns to Egypt after years living abroad. Amal doesn't know she is connected to Isabel until she starts to read the journals of Anna Winterbourne.

If this all seems intricate, it is because the narrative itself is weaved intricately; maybe a bit too ambitious at times. It illustrates political occasions over a century and ends in 1998, a year after the massacre near Luxor. This novel was a Booker Prize finalist and one can tell by the sprawl of different perspectives, the play with time, the political history interwoven, and the cultural maneuver embodied in interchanging writing styles throughout chapters. In other words, be very attentive when reading, or else risk being lost.

I'll always fall for a love story immersed in politics and social disparities, a story of love that spans cultures. And I fell for this one, through the journals of Anna, through Isabel's love affair, even through Amal's daring brush with a past love. I fell for the poetry included before each chapter, poetry from Aidoo, Milton, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

The face of all the world is changed, I think
Since first I heard the footsteps of thy soul. ...more

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Mar 12, 2017 Jonfaith rated it liked it

Last fall my wife read about the BBC/Fox production of Taboo starring Tom Hardy and an amazing supporting cast. What could possibly fail? Well, we waited for all the episodes to air and having recorded them sat to binge. Along the way I noticed Guardian headlines bemoaning the show. My best friend who doesn't believe in dvr dismissed the show as macho mumblecore. Still, I harbored hope. What an utter waste Taboo proved.

So I went to Cincinnati the other day to buy books. I found a nice copy and ...more

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Jul 25, 2007 Whitney rated it it was amazing

One of my favorite books - it has everything you could want - romance, Egypt, kidnapping, desserts, stars, England, illigitamate children, brooding academic-types, sexy political dissidents, bold women, multi-cultural challenges, contemporary politics, turn-of-the-20th-century politics, luxe, fabric, fashion, trunks with old letters, family homes, lattice - shiveringly good...

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Apr 23, 2012 Ron rated it it was amazing

A finalist for the Booker Prize when it was published in 1999, this novel of love and international politics set in Egypt is also a rich and rewarding mix of postmodern, post-colonial, and Victorian-era storytelling. In the scale of its romantic ambitions, it reminded me often of "The English Patient," and it cries out for a similar film adaptation to bring it visually to life. Soueif evokes several imaginative worlds, ranging from the Sinai deserts of a century ago to modern-day Cairo. Narrated A finalist for the Booker Prize when it was published in 1999, this novel of love and international politics set in Egypt is also a rich and rewarding mix of postmodern, post-colonial, and Victorian-era storytelling. In the scale of its romantic ambitions, it reminded me often of "The English Patient," and it cries out for a similar film adaptation to bring it visually to life. Soueif evokes several imaginative worlds, ranging from the Sinai deserts of a century ago to modern-day Cairo. Narrated from the point of view of its women characters, her story explores the relationship between the politically driven affairs of men and the sanctuary of home and hearth where women and children live their lives. Thus the story traces both the struggle for power and the strongest urges of the heart, a compelling combination.

Told mostly in the form of fragments of text - journal entries and letters - the narrative harks back to the 18th-century epistolary novel. We also get multiple narrators, mostly filtered through the perspective of its central character, a middle-aged woman living in Cairo in the late 1990s. The story she tells takes place in the years before WWI and concerns a love affair between an English widow and a wealthy, influential Egyptian man, who is 16 years older, all of it set against the British occupation of Egypt and the impact of European colonialism on a nation with thousands of years of culture and history. As the novel shifts to the present, it describes the modern-day aftermath of that period of history in the continuing interference of the West in the Middle East and the growth of Islamist and secular extremism that has emerged in response to it. Meanwhile, the domestic world of women, bound in its traditions of caring for home and children, continues to guide their energies and concerns and provides sanctuary from the political strife that surges around them.

Written in English by an Egyptian-born writer, this intricately plotted novel is set in the present and deeply immersed in the past. It is both a history lesson and a heart-racing romance that walks the fine line between an "orientalist" perspective and an attitude that represents Egyptians and their culture from their own point of view. For example, through discussions of early Jewish settlements in Palestine, the reader gets an Egyptian perspective of historical developments that were to lead to the creation of the state of Israel a half century later. A glossary at the back of the book helps with reading through sections of the novel that incorporate Arabic expressions, idioms, and historical references. Plan on taking a while to read this book - unless you intend to skip over the more demanding parts. It evokes a time and a world that is only somewhat familiar, given what we know of it from film and the media, and the book's richness of detail calls for a slower more attentive pace. ...more

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May 28, 2008 Alison rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: Proper moms that harbor fantasies about Arab men. Those who go apeshit over Ian McEwan.

It's midnight at the Oasis. The air is dry and warm, scented of Jasmine and a beautiful, spunky blonde Englishwoman in drag bewitches the sensitive, progressive Egyptian man in the shadow of the great ruins in one of several highly cinematic encounters written several decades too late for Omar Sharif and Julie Christie to play the protagonists.

I didn't hate this book (though it takes several strange, unadvised turns--at least once into a bizarre and unresolved issue of incest), but the framework ...more

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Aug 25, 2008 Jodi McMaster rated it liked it

Shelves: mainstream-fiction

The only reason this gets a three is because it was an interesting journey into the world view of another, and I enjoyed it while I was reading it. However, the morning after I finished it, I realized that although the interposition and parallelism of the the past and present was quite well done, the characters were flat. All the protagonists are admirable and all get along famously (including sisters, brothers, and all manner of in-laws); all conflict and pain is caused by the outsiders: the ...more

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Nov 26, 2014 Adina rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, egypt

2.5*

The book started as 4* but ended as a 2*. When I read the synopsis I thought I was going to love it. It ticked all the right boxes : a love story set in Egypt, a country I really wanted to know more about, the use of letters and diaries to tell the story, two parallel stories set at different points in time.

I loved Anna's story up to the point she got married and moved together with Layla and Sharif's mother. I was hopping for a more passionate relationship and I thought the romance story ...more

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Jun 12, 2007 Anna rated it really liked it

History and political analysis just the way I like it - coated with compelling fiction. The romanticism and lushness of the prose threw me at first, but suited the story well and won me over.

This book uses connected love stories to examine Egyptian nationalism in the face of British colonialism in the early 1900s. This opens out into suches themes as broader colonialism, the Arabic language, and early Zionism.

While not perfect (sometimes hard to sustain the breathlessness and the ending didn't ...more

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Dec 05, 2015 Nada rated it it was amazing

I read the Arabic translation by DR. Fatma Mousa, Ahdaf's mother. And it seemed to me that the book was originally written in such glorious Arabic. I am still willing to read the original ENglish and I expect it to be as beautifully written as the translation. As far as the drama is concerned, the story is enchanting. The moments I spent with the book, I was completely taken into other worlds. Now that I have finished the book today, I have a feeling of bitterness because I will read no more of ...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, contemporary-fiction, bookcrossing, history, egypt, read-2012, mtbr-challenge-2012

This is story of Isabel Parkman who is in search of the roots of her Egyptian ancestry.

Her mother, lady Anna Winterbourne travels to Egypt in 1900 and falls in love with Sharif, an Egyptian Nationalist who defy his own costumes by marrying an English lady.

The story has several narrators and the plot is alternated between past and present times.

Even so, the author knows how to keep our attention into the plot since her narrative naturally flows the pace of the events.

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Jul 30, 2012 Michael rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, colonialism, romance, england, religion, africa, egypt

Very disappointing. A young American widow, Isabel, visits Egypt in the last 90's to pursue a story on the meaning of the Millenium for the Middle East and to expore the history of her grandmother, Anna, who married an Egyptian at the turn of the 20th century. The development of Anna's love for Sharif and bonds with his sister is told through letters and journals, with much background about the politics of Egypt's movement toward independence from the British. Isabel's developing love for an ...more

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Dec 07, 2008 JG (The Introverted Reader) rated it liked it

Recommended to JG (The Introverted Reader) by: Pat

Shelves: fiction, historical_fiction, z_read_in_2009, reviewed, 3_stars, z_setting_uk, z_setting_egypt, z_author_egyptian

The Map of Love tells two stories. Primarily, it is about Anna Winterbourne, living in the early 1900s, and her fascination with Egypt. In the present, Isabel Parkman and Amal al-Ghamrawi have found a trunk of Annas journals and letters and set out to piece together her story, while living their own.

The writing in this book was beautiful. There were some parts where the author seemed to be trying to show what a colorful, vibrant place her Egypt is and those just glowed. But my problem with The Map of Love tells two stories. Primarily, it is about Anna Winterbourne, living in the early 1900s, and her fascination with Egypt. In the present, Isabel Parkman and Amal al-Ghamrawi have found a trunk of Anna’s journals and letters and set out to piece together her story, while living their own.

The writing in this book was beautiful. There were some parts where the author seemed to be trying to show what a colorful, vibrant place her Egypt is and those just glowed. But my problem with beautiful writing is that I very often get bogged down and get bored and wish I could just get on with the story. I wish it didn’t happen, but it does. That happened for me here.

I really enjoyed reading Anna’s story. She’s an interesting, brave woman who isn’t afraid to break out of the mold that’s been made for her. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stand Isabel and I was indifferent to Amal.

I’m not exactly sure what the point of the book was. There definitely was a message, I just can’t decide how to take it. As an American reading a book by an Egyptian author, I’m afraid of misreading something. But, right or wrong, what I took away was the author trying to tell me that there’s more to her country than what I see in the news, and the problems that exist began in colonial times under British rule, but now under their own rule they aren’t doing any better. The poor are still oppressed and nothing seems to be changing. I hope I didn’t read all that wrong.

That being said, I got bogged down in the politics, both present and past. I don’t know anything about Egyptian history and it felt like that was almost necessary to be able to read between the lines and accurately see what the author was trying to show me. This was written in 1999 and there’s one section about American foreign policy and Islamic radicals. That was a little eerie to read post-9/11.

There were tons of names in this book. Enough to make me think of Anna Karenina. With at least half of them being Egyptian names, I just gave up and hoped that I would figure out the main players as I went. I think I did, but I hate when authors do that. Even the British names were hard to keep up with. Just too much.

This is such a little thing, but it drove me crazy for a while. Every chapter started on the left-hand page. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, right? Well, I must have some sort of OCD about that because I could not get over it for the longest time. I just felt “off.” Fortunately every chapter also starts with a quote by itself on the right-hand page before the chapter starts and I was able to start thinking of that as the first page of the chapter, but it really was killing me at first.

So, beautiful writing, Egyptian politics both past and present. If you’re interested, go ahead and pick this up. Anna’s story really was good, the rest of it just confused me. ...more

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Jan 04, 2009 Bettie rated it liked it

Shelves: published-1999, booker-longlist, bedside, paper-read, afr-egypt, winter-20122013, tbr-busting-2013

Judging by the price sticker I purchased this in Dublin's Chapters Bookshop. The cover is Aswan twilight with feluccas *sighs a remembering sigh*.

Dedication: For Ian

Front Quotes:
It is strange this period [1900-1914] when the Colonialists and their collaborators thought everything was quiet - was one of the most fertile in Egypt's history. A great examination of the self took place, and a great recharging of energy in preparation for a new Renaissance. (Gamal 'Abd el-Nasser, 'The Covenant' 1962) ...more

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Jul 27, 2009 okyrhoe rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookcrossing, books-i-own, egypt, favorites

Ahdaf Soueif's familiarity with the British sensibility and the Victorian literary style merges almost seamlessly with the Arab tendency to imbue magical/mystical elements into historical accounts and personal storytelling. This novel is balanced in that respect, lacking the sentimentality of other Egyptian writers of fiction.
In some instances the editorializing - the commentary on the historical & political situation which seems to be the author's rather than the narrator's view - began to ...more

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Sep 21, 2010 Noor Al-Zubaidi rated it really liked it

Recommended to Noor by: Ruqaiya

The beginning was slow, but thankfully I was fairly warned. It was interesting from the very start and it remained so until the end.
How the author wrote the parts of the 20th century, I felt I was reading a classic.
Many issues are addressed, and that taught me a lot about history which I'm grateful for. The going back and forth between two periods of time can be a bit confusing but it was great at the same time.

I'm always impatient to know what's happening in the other time era, and I liked a ...more

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Jun 26, 2018 Ken rated it liked it · review of another edition

As Im reading outside my comfort zone this summer, their was inevitably going to be a book that I wouldnt enjoy as much as I hoped.
The Map of Love was my pick for Egypt during my #WorldCupInBooks challenge.

Told over two time periods during the beginning and the end of the twentieth century, this cross cultural parallel relationships.
The book constantly flipped between the two time periods.

I thought it was a nice story but it soon got bogged down in political situations at the time.
As much as I ...more

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Jan 08, 2018 Florence rated it liked it

Egypt, in 1910, is in political turmoil. England dominates the government and rules the land bitterly opposed by Egyptian nationalists. Twin love stories unfold - one in the past and one in the present. Both are bittersweet and slowly blossom. The story, told in the voice of several characters, is deeply entwined with Egyptian culture. At times I felt lost. There was not enough historic background to fully understand the politics of the day. Also, the character of Anna, originally presented as a ...more

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Jan 11, 2015 Andrea rated it really liked it

I have a problem deciding between 4 and 5 stars.

I give it 5 stars because The Map of Love is EXACTLY the kind of reading I LOVE! Passionate, rich with historical and geographical data, evocative of the past, culturally challenging and full of oriental romance. The book has given me a significantly different glance at the Arabic world and most of all about the Palestinian past (that I must admit, didn't know much about till now). It has also blended the two worlds of Anna and Sharif beautifully, ...more

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Dec 02, 2008 Mary rated it liked it

I didn't really love or not love this book. It goes back in forth in time; from early 1900's to late 1990's and the relationships between the past and present come together; very slowly. There is only one character, Anna, who I came to care about and my mind would drift quite a bit throughout the book. This is generally a genre I really enjoy so I was surprised it did not deliver what I wanted. I want it all!!

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Oct 22, 2013 Wanda rated it liked it

Shelves: real-books, 2016, wandas-african-safari

26 MAR 2016 - this is a book that with the correct cinematography and casting would make a fantastic film. In my mind, I am thinking of a comparison to Out of Africa.

As for the reading of The Map of Love, as is usual with multiple storylines, I enjoyed Anna's story more. The Map of Love is a lovely read and I will hold out hope that someone will turn this into a lovely film.

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Mar 26, 2010 Siegrist rated it it was amazing

Friday, May 29, 2009
Families and readers

I have been reading The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif, a lovely saga of a thing, perfect for wintry nights because its set somewhere warm (Egypt) and has at its heart a reader prone to worrying with whom I instantly identified. This is the beginning of the book. "Amal reads deep into the night. She reads and lets Anna's words flow into her, probing gently at dreams and hope and sorrows she had sorted out, labelled and put away". I loved Amal as a character. Friday, May 29, 2009
Families and readers

I have been reading The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif, a lovely saga of a thing, perfect for wintry nights because its set somewhere warm (Egypt) and has at its heart a reader prone to worrying with whom I instantly identified. This is the beginning of the book. "Amal reads deep into the night. She reads and lets Anna's words flow into her, probing gently at dreams and hope and sorrows she had sorted out, labelled and put away". I loved Amal as a character. She has so much integrity, but because the world is so imperfect this leads to a passivity and inertia because it is so difficult to act with integrity when all of one's choices seemed not quite right. Amal absorbs herself in the documents of Anna Winterbourne and her grandmother Layla, documents in English, French and a "neat Arabic raq'a script". I loved this too - the intersections of culture as manifest in language.

It's so clever because at the same time as it is an exotic love story between Anna and Sharif and then Isabel and Omar, it also problematises this notion of exoticism (and really of love). There's a moment in the novel where Amal discovers an article by Sharif about the appeal of the East which he sees as a economic solution to the West's problems and also the Orient, a wonderful otherwordly place full of exoticism. Amal jokes that they could republish it now. I found myself wanting to read about this book (discovering this very glamourous photograph of Ahdaf giving a speech) and some people found the romance too much and others found it a wonderful post-colonialistic launching pad for pontificating! (Actually this article was very interesting about the letters of women travellers as a subversive discourse).

The structure was great - I liked the layers, the disparities between the past and present, the gaps in knowledge between the generations. I found myself fascinated by the missing generation, the adult Nur (Anna's daughter and Isabella's grandmother) and Ahmad (Layla's son and Amal's grandfather), their life stories hinted at in just a few sentences. ...more

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Jan 16, 2016 Booknblues rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-east, bnb, egypt

Ahdaf Soueif presents two tales to provide a bridge across nations and generations. Amal receives a trunk from Isabel a love interest of Amal's brother Omar who resides in New York. She becomes immersed in uncovering the story of Anna an English woman of the early twentieth century which is found in journals in the trunk, one side of which Amal is already familiar with. While making her discoveries in the trunk Amal finds the ties that bound her great uncle are again entrapping her brother. The ...more

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Mar 09, 2014 Tania Gee rated it liked it

Shelves: best-middle-east-fiction

3.5 Stars
I struggle with what to rate this book. I would rate it a 3, but only because of my own personal tastes, not because of any real flaw with the book. Have you ever felt like you should be enjoying a book more, like there is really no reason why you shouldn't be, and you know others would love it, and yet you're still left just slightly dissatisfied with the book yourself? This was such a book for me.

I believe The Map of Love to be essential reading for anyone interested in Egyptian ...more

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Oct 18, 2016 Barbara Bryant rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016-popsugar-challenge

In the Egyptian room in the British Museum in London I stood, the Rosetta Stone inches away from me: Large, smooth, cool dark gray, inscribed with precise characters on every side. Hushed with awe to contemplate how many centuries it has existed. Mysterious yet comprehensible, strangely beautiful in its profound, silent eloquence.

"The Map of Love" is like the Rosetta Stone: Different voices tell the same story. Time passes, yet their experiences are timeless. In the eternal culture of Egypt, ...more

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Oct 30, 2014 Christin added it

I really enjoyed this book. I am partial to multi-character and multi-generational narratives and this novel spans a very interesting part of Egyptian history. Seeing historical events like the Urabi revolt or various developments in Palestine from this fictional, first-person narrative perspective was engaging, though I have to say that some characters gripped me more than others. I found myself looking forward to the sections of Anna's letters (i.e. the earlier historical narrative) as opposed ...more

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Feb 24, 2010 Amal rated it it was amazing

I just can't explain exactly how I feel twards this novel? from time to time I fell in love with a novel with it's characters and with what it is telling us. these kind of novels are very rare and The Map of love is very much one of them. It is a fresh psalm that takes your heart away...very far and deep in time where you beleive that you like to belong during this time with these marvelous people, to be part of this love story between Ann an Sharif basha Al Baroudi, or at least to be one of its ...more

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Oct 21, 2010 Huda rated it really liked it

Recommended to Huda by: Nile Daughter, Ruqaiya

A great book by a very capable author. The clash between an Effendi and an English lady is very creative, who would've thought about that?
Yes the book is slow paced at the beginning, but nevertheless it's highly interesting.
However I didn't rate it as a 5 star book because I have some objections to a couple of things in the book, some things I perhaps haven't grasped their full meaning, and others I haven't found believable.
However I loved the setting and the whole idea of the book.

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Mar 03, 2013 Ayelet Waldman added it

This book is appallingly bad, and the Booker people are out of their collective minds. I mean, good GOD. What are they thinking, putting this tripe on their short list? With the overblown metaphors and the ludicrous political diatribes? Will someone please let me know if I write like this so that I can become an underwear saleswoman?

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Nov 14, 2015 Amena rated it really liked it

The politics got a bit too much for me sometimes, though they were essential to the plot. 4 stars because despite the politics and the fact it was confusing who the protagonist was at times, I wanted nothing more than to come home and read it everyday.

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Play Book Tag: [Horizons - Egypt] The Map of Love - Ahdaf Soueif - 4 stars	1	12	Sep 20, 2019 10:21PM
Conduciendo hacia el Sol	1	1	Feb 18, 2015 07:52PM
What do you think....?	14	107	Sep 10, 2014 01:06AM
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ما هو رأيك فى الرواية و وما هو نقدك لها من خلال قرائتك : ) ؟؟	2	12	Nov 12, 2013 11:47AM
Middle East/North...: The Map Of Love (September - November 2012)	51	54	Oct 31, 2012 06:51AM
Middle East/North...: The map of love by Ahdaf Soueif - Egypt	31	74	Sep 05, 2012 06:19AM

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About Ahdaf Soueif

Ahdaf Soueif

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Ahdaf Soueif (Arabic: أهداف سويف) is an Egyptian short story writer, novelist and political and cultural commentator. She was educated in Egypt and England - studied for a PhD in linguistics at the University of Lancaster.

Her novel The Map of Love (1999) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and subsequently translated into 21 languages. Soueif writes primarily in English, but her ...more

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Quotes from The Map of Love

“وقال: يا أمي أنا لا أستطيع العيش مع امرأة لا تملك مفتاحاً لعقلي ولا تشاركني اهتماماتي، إنها لا تقرأ شيئا ولا تريد أن تقرأ،لا تهتم بمشاكل اليوم وتسألني رأيي في مفرش جديد طرّزته، نحن نعيش في أيام عصيبة ولا يصح اليوم أن يقصر الإنسان اهتمامه علي بيته ووظيفته، ولا يفكر إلا في حياته الخاصة. أحتاج إلى شريكة أسكن إليها واثقا من تعاطفها معي، أصدقها عندما ترى أني أخطأت، تزيدني قوة عندما تقول إني على حق، شريكة أحبها وتحبني بدورها، لكني لا أرى فيما حولي سكنا ولا حبا، إنه نوع من تبادل المصالح بترخيص من الدين والمجتمع، وهذا ما لا أرضاه لنفسي.” — 129 likes

“فى بعض الأحيان أرى أننا نفترض أننا نعنى نفس الشئ لمجرد أننا نستخدم نفس الألفاظ” — 102 likes

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