pickI found this on a Book Riot list of Egyptian authors to try, and seeing only one Litsy post, I thought maybe it wasn't so well-known. Then I looked at Goodreads...over 40,000 ratings 😮 I can see why it's so popular: Ashour's tale of a Granadan family at the end of the 15th century captures the fraught interactions between family members during a time of upheaval. With Muslim rule recently ended by the Castilians, 👇
Billypar an atmosphere of danger and uncertainty lurks as the residents of Albaicin see the most sacred aspects of their way of life forbidden. Ashour's decision not to have a central character and to instead switch between family members was a bold one that emphasized the individual responses to the oppression they faced. It was tough reading this knowing that Parts 2 and 3 haven't been translated into English, but I didn't feel shortchanged in the least. (edited) 4y
vivastory This sounds very intriguing. Very bold to read it without the rest being available in translation! I find this period of history fascinating, will def be checking it out 4y
Billypar @vivastory I'm actually the worst at reading series anyhow - so many book one's read and no others! Luckily this author has at least one other novel translated in English, so I will probably check this one out as well.![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png)
Blue Lorries 4y
Blue LorriesPinta Albaicín is such an evocative setting... definitely curious about this book. 4y
Billypar @Pinta She doesn't get carried away with her descriptions of the surroundings, but the ones she does use were very effective in making me feel like I was there, without knowing anything about AlbaicÃn going into it. 4y
