Perplexed, where the beginning and end meet!

by Angie Mohsen Eissa

Four Ladies lost in noisy turbulent Cairo; Dina Farouk, a teenager totally consumed by the idea of leaping to another social class and willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Mai Moussa, a Westernised Egyptian girl who does not believe in love or marriage trips and falls into a loopy relationship. Leila, in her thirties, locked up in the perfect marriage looking for a chance to escape. Lastly Malak Abdel Ghaffar, a prominent business woman who helps all three ladies see the ultimate and inevitable truth. Perplexed tells you the story of how women in Egypt are crushed between the governing rules of a harsh society and a backlog of traditions and beliefs. The story portrays the real lives of well-educated Egyptian women fighting against their own bringing up, their circumstances, fanatic believes and black boxed culture defeating their own fears and ties in perseverance of survival in the land of Chaos. An Egyptian Novel revealing the concealed values and hidden chauvinistic beliefs of modern Egypt, the conflicting and often confusing relation between life and religion in Egypt, the inevitable struggle between need and conscience, right and wrong.

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

Reviews

[Dindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's first language is Arabic yet she wrote this novel in English - the reader sometimes feels the strain of writing in one's second language but the final portion of the book is strong, clear and full of messages about life in Egypt today. Despite the awkard phrasing at times, the story carries the reader on, wondering where the characters will turn next and wondering how the author pulls it all together at the end. Westerners cannot help but feel the pain of each woman, bristling at the macho behavior of the men, one long's for each woman to escape.