Zonana Joyce - A Land Like You - Paperback

Binding: Paperback
Description: A riveting and revealing tale of an Egypt caught between tradition and modernity multiculturalism and nationalism oppression and freedom. Cairo 1925, Haret al - Yahud the old Jewish Quarter. Esther a beautiful young woman believed to be possessed by demons longs to give birth after seven blissful years of marriage. Her husband blind since childhood does not object when in her effort to conceive she participates in Muslim zar rituals. Zohar the novel's narrator comes into the world but because his mother's breasts are dry he is nursed by a Muslim peasant also believed to be possessed who has just given birth to a girl Masreya. Suckled at the same breasts and united by a rabbi's amulet the milk - twins will be consumed by a passionate earth - shaking love. Part fantastical fable part realistic history A Land Like You draws on ethno - psychiatrist Tobie Nathan's deep knowledge of North African folk beliefs to create a glittering tapestry in which spirit possession and religious mysticism exist side by side with sober facts about the British occupation of Egypt and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Free Officers Movement. Historical figures such as Gamel Abdel Nasser Anwar Sadat and King Farouk mingle with Nathan's fictional characters in this engaging story.
Title: A Land Like You
Author(s): Zonana Joyce
Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd
Barcode: 9781803091969
Pages: 340 Pages
Publication Date: 3/8/2023
Category: Modern & Contemporary Fiction