Soheir KhashoggiRecensioni

La canción de Nadia
Soheir Khashoggi
Publicado: 2000 | 439 páginas

Un féretro, escoltado por militares y altos mandatarios, atraviesa las calles de El Cairo. A su paso va dejando una estela de anónimas voces que expresan dolor y gratitud hacia el cuerpo que va en su interior: es el de Karima, nacida pobre y mujer, condiciones que, en la rígida sociedad egipcia de los años cuarenta, le predestinaban a una aciaga existencia marcada por la obediencia y la sumisión. Porque Karima no estaba llamada a una vida fácil. Una sociedad hostil y un destino adverso iban a marcar toda su existencia; un destino al que ella hará frente con el único don que nadie podrá arrebatarle: su voz. Una voz privilegiada que se convertirá en un mito para el pueblo árabe por su habilidad para transmitir un mensaje de esperanza, un sentimiento frágil y, sin embargo, el único que puede hacer olvidar los sinsabores de la vida. No obstante, para Nadia, una joven periodista, Karima era mucho más que una leyenda, y develar los secretos de su vida y de su confusa muerte es una cuestión que va más allá de un simple objetivo profesional. Algo imprescindible para dar también sentido a su existencia.

A rather grim view of the life of a privileged woman in a strictly muslim country. The story threads around the abused and restrictive life she leads even while having a lot of luxury. She escapes and moves to USA where she settles with her young son, whose father is a royal prince and she expects he will continue to try to find her, kill her and retrieve his son.½

Basada en hechos reales, esta es la vibrante historia de una mujer en busca de su libertad. Amira es hija de una familia de la nobleza árabe, sin embargo su vida es una pesadilla de la que desea huir. Instalada en los Estados Unidos, la sombra del yugo islámico se cierne sobre ella.

Alejandría, Egipto. Nacida como una humilde sirvienta en una plantación de algodón propiedad de una familia británica adinerada, Karima Ismail nunca imaginó hasta dónde le llevarían sus sueños, ni el dolor y la pasión que le esperaban. Aunque su amor condenado por el apuesto hijo de su empleador termina en tragedia, su breve romance la deja con una hermosa hija que es la alegría de su vida. Con el tiempo, la voz celestial de Karima la lleva al estrellato y se convierte en una de las cantantes más admiradas y exitosas de su generación, el mundialmente famoso "ruiseñor" de Egipto. Pero todo su éxito no cuenta para nada cuando, en una terrible noche de llamas y revolución, la pequeña Nadia desaparece repentinamente, dejando a Karima privada. Con un nuevo nombre e identidad, la hija perdida de Karima crece a miles de kilómetros de distancia. Solo cuando una cadena inesperada de eventos lleva a Gaby de regreso a Egipto, puede comenzar a desentrañar el misterio de su pasado y descubrir la felicidad que anhela.

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I read the Reader's Digest Condensed Books (Edited) version of this book years ago and really liked it back at the time.

An intricate tale of love, loss and family intricacies, set in Egypt, France then USA.

Pass this one. Better to read the more gripping Not Without My Daughter. The past few years have seen a not so unexpected surge of interest in Iranian, Iraqi, Afghani and you name it I have it Islam-kind of books. I confess I love reading such books. Offers a glimpse into a culture so different yet so similar to one I claim to belong to. But what is Mosaic? Ya ya, Dina Ahmadwakes up one day, finds that her husband, a Jordanian has taken their two kids and nanny to beloved Jordan. Boo hooing Dina teams with some verrrrrrrrrrry understanding friends - then finds some mysterious detective who comes to Jordan with her. They try to abduct the children back to beloved America. Ahem. Great story.

What happens? Husband has a change of heart. Decides to give one of the kids back - the daughter. And then, the son does a disappearing act, and bingo, Dad is completely changed. Returns both. End of story.

Spare me. Spare me. Spare me Soheir Khashoggi. There might be lots who will like this book. I definitely will never join them.

good refresher @ Egypt

Alexandria, Egypt. Born a humble servant girl on a cotton plantation owned by a wealthy British family, Karima Ismail never imagined how far her dreams would take her---nor the heartache and passion in store. Although her doomed love for her employer's handsome son ends in tragedy, their brief romance leaves her with a beautiful daughter who is the joy of her life.

I'm slightly surprised I like this book as well as I did. A fellow commuter recommended it. This reads sort of like a Danielle Steel. The first few parts of the book are confusing because the timeline flips forward and backward.

Basada en hechos reales, Amira es la vibrante historia de una mujer que lucha encarnizadamente por escapar del infame yugo que padecen las mujeres en el mundo islámico. Aunque Amira pertenece a una familia de la nobleza árabe, no soporta los malos tratos de su marido y la carencia de los derechos más elementales por el mero hecho de ser mujer. Su vida es una pesadilla de la que finalmente decide despertar. Haciendo gala de una valentía insólita, huye a Estados Unidos, donde asume una nueva identidad e intenta rehacer su vida. Sin embargo, Amira no imagina que los tentáculos del fanatismo, la prepotencia y la intolerancia llegarán incluso allí para hacerle pagar muy caro su osadía y la afrenta que ha infligido a su esposo...

Alejandría, Egipto. Al nacer como una humilde sirvienta en una plantación de algodón de una rica familia británica, Karima Ismail jamás llegó a imaginar hasta qué punto la arrastrarían sus sueños... ni las angustias y pasiones que llegaría a acumular. Aunque la fuerza del destino haga que su amor por el apuesto hijo de su patrón termine trágicamente, de su breve romance nacerá una hermosa hija que se convertirá en la alegría de su vida. Con el tiempo, la voz angelical de Karima la llevará a convertirse en una gran estrella hasta llegar a ser la más floreciente y admirada cantante de su generación, el mundialmente conocido «Ruiseñor» de Egipto. Sin embargo, todo el valor de su éxito se queda en nada cuando una terrible noche de llamas y revolución la despoja de la pequeña Nadia, que desaparece repentinamente. Con un nuevo nombre e identidad, la hija perdida de Karima crece a miles de kilómetros de ella.

I enjoyed this book. Not the best ever but good and enjoyable. Story takes place mostly in Egypt. British influence. British boy falls for servant girl. Doomed love. Child out of wedlock being Nadia who gets lost as an infant during a fire . She is found by a Parisian couple who keep her and call her Gabriella. Gabby finds out the truth and finds her mother.
i enjoyed the British/Egyptian conflict in the story. The plot line was rather predictable.

Excellent portrayal of conservative Islamic role of women, and their protection, gone wrong.

over het hypocriete bestaan van een arabische vrouw en haar oppermachtige prins.En hoe ze gered wordt door zijn beste vriend en op de vlucht moet haar verdere leven.

I can't quite seem to put my finger on what bothers me about Soheir Khashoggi's books, but there's something that just seems to nag at me. Maybe it's her characters' having perfect, happy lives. Sure, something always comes along to upset things (in this case, a woman's children are taken away to live in Jordan with their father and his family as an effort to escape the corrupting influence of American society), but in the end, everything works out for the best and we get a happy ending. Maybe it just bugs me that things just seem to fall neatly into place, the way they almost never do in real life. Anyway, I didn't hate this one, by any means. I thought it was pretty good, but not especially memorable.

L'histoire ne pète pas d'originalité : un père jordanien enlève ses enfants américains pour les élever dans son pays natal. Les personnages ont au moins le mérite de ne pas être ni tout bons ni tout méchants - un équilibre qui leur donne une certaine dimension. L'histoire est fluide. Le lecteur passera un bon moment sans avoir à trop réfléchir.

#27, 2007

This is an interesting book set in a fictious Arab country in which a young woman, Amira, marries into the royal family, only to find herself showered with not only luxuries, but with severe physical abuse from her new husband, one of the country's princes. Her own culture allows her no way to speak out against this abuse, nor does it give her any protection, so, with the help of a French doctor, she fakes her own death, and manages to escape with her son. From that point on, even though she does have her freedom, she lives in constant terror that her violent, wealthy husband will find her someday, the consequences of which would surely be dire.

It was an interesting look at a world which seems so far removed from my own (and is, in many ways). And yet, the author made the point very clearly that there are women in all walks of life who suffer abuse at the hands of their partners, and who often feel equally as trapped as Amira did, even when living in modern-day America.

The strange thing for me about reading this is that I often felt as though I'd read it before. Certainly there was one scene that I was sure I'd read before, although since it came half-way through the book, it seemed odd that I wouldn't have remembered what came before. And by the end, I was surprised by what happened. So, I'm not sure if this was similar to something I read years ago, or if perhaps I read an excerpt from this book in a magazine or something, some time ago. 4 stars.

Written by Egyptian writer Soheir Khashoggi, Mosaic takes place mostly in Jordan. Jordanian husband, Karim, of Lebanese-American wife, Dina, 'kidnaps' their youngest children, twins, in order to remove them from life in the U.S. His reason being that since 9/11 he feels that Arab-Americans in general are looked at skeptically and even suspiciously simply because they look Arab. Khashoggi keeps the story moving as she blends suspense with family relationships and Jordanian culture. Toward the end of the book, I thought an attraction between Dina and a private investigator was a little far-fetched but for the most part the story was believable. Interesting insight into Jordanian culture and family. I read this for a book group and wouldn't normally have picked it up but I'm glad I did. Now I'm on to reading Leap of Faith by Queen Noor.