My current read Soheir Khashoggi's "Nadia's Song"

Soheir was born in Alexandria, Egypt. Her first acclaimed novel,MIRAGE was published in 1996.

The cover page of this book reads ' A captivating story of triumph and tragedy- and a powerful but forbidden love'. I found it quite interesting. This is the second book I have read written by an Egyptian author, the first being Khalid Hosseini's "A thousand suns".It was a beautiful book read.

Soheir is the sister of Adnan Khashoggi(billionaire who was once connected to Jackie Kennedy/Onassis) and is Dodi Al Fayed's auntie. Her late sister Samira Khashoggi was Dodi's mother. She has produced 3 best sellers but the first titled Mirage is banned in Saudi Arabia. Soheir dedicated Nadia's Song to the memory of her dear nephew Dodi al Fayed(of late princess Diana fame).

Set against five decades of turbulent Middle Eastern history, from World War II to the first Gulf War, Nadia's Song is a moving saga of mothers and daughters and the unbreakable bond between them.

Karima,born to a humble servant working in cotton plantations owned by rich Britishers, her journey of life sees numerous upheavals. She falls in love with Charles, son of plantation owner and losses him in an accident. But by then she is an unwed mother and her own mother dies of an explosion. Her brother, Omar forcefully gets her married to an old man, who in few years dies in a fire outbreak at a hotel, wherein she gets separated from her eight year old daughter, Nadia.

She has been gifted with a beautiful voice and is called the Nightingale of Egypt. This expression reminds me of Lata Mangeshkar who is often addressed as the Nightingale of India. Nadia becomes one of the most accomplished singers of Egypt, but her songs carry the pain of her pining for her daughter.

Given a new name and identity, Karima's lost daughter grows up many miles away. It is only when an unexpected chain of events leads "Gaby" back to Egypt that she begins to unravel the mystery of her past and discover the happiness she longs for.

Egypt was an unknown territory to me in every aspect till I touched this book. Egypt for me meant the famous river Nile, its pyramids and its capital city, Cairo.
So this book is a real eye opener in the way it depicts about Egypt in its pristine glory during the rule of last pharaoh and it's successive waging of wars to claim control over Suez canal. The brutal loss it suffered in the hands of Italy and later its rise to glory under Anwar Sadat's rule. The city of Alexandria which is the scene of action has been beautifully narrated.

In a way it falls into the usual genre of a book authored by a woman and has two women Nadia and Karima as the central characters.One tends to compare it with other books written on women, "A thousand suns", " Not without my daughter". But this book stands out in its positive treatment of its female characters. It absorbs the readers interest and is definitely a good read.