A hilarious and provocative story of love, menus and Islam To spice up the tedium of her work on a supermarket checkout, 20-year-old Tracy Pringle lets her imagination run riot. As she hands the change to Princess Leia or Omar Shariff, her life seems quite exotic. But far greater excitement is in store. Sacked for her compulsive daydreaming, she finds a new job as a waitress at the Taste of Persia - despite the reservations of the restaurant's proprietor, Samaan 'Sam' Sahar. This new world surpasses even Tracy's well-stocked imagination, and she soon finds herself falling headlong into dinner plates, Islam, and a rather tricky domestic arrangement. But as word of this English harem spreads, so too does prejudice and fear.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'The English Harem dares to speak of English multiculturalism in the satirical tongue that most native writers keep mute' Observer 'Anthony McCarten's sparkling new novel manages to deal with big issues - cultural differences, religion, marriage - in a funny and often moving way' Sunday Tribune, Dublin
About the Author
Anthony McCarten was born in New Plymouth in 1961. He is New Zealand's leading director and playright. His most recent play, Ladies Night, is in its thirteenth year and has won several awards. He has written the screenplay for his first book, Spinners, which was published to wide critical acclaim and sold in several territories. He divides his time between Wellington, Los Angeles and London, and is currently working on his next novel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bad, bad book,
By Charles Pooter "C.P." (Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The English Harem (Paperback)
The English Harem started out well - Tracy seeing Literary figures in her supermarket customers was delightful, but that proved to be the only highlight of this disaster. I am always astounded by writers who manage to personify the opposite gender well, making their characters completely believable, but this author is hopeless. One wonders if he knows any women at all. Remember, he is supposed to be writing about Western women agreeing to be part of a harem (where the second wife is taking on the man who accidentally killed the love of her life!!) -really, what is their motivation to do this? The book is a long, drawn-out male fantasy, with glaring inaccuracies about Islam as well. It is a bad straight-to-video movie of a book; the author needs to get out more, meet some real people and some real muslims.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly ridiculous in places,
By
This review is from: English Harem (Paperback)
I really can't say I enjoyed this book much, and finished it more in the name of morbid fascination than general interest. Its a promising subject matter that could have been interesting, but instead was dealt with in a slightly ridiculous and melodramatic way which left no room for character development or further exploration of the key ideas. It would have been nice if the writer had gone deeper into Sam and his East-West conflict, or the real reasons behind Tracy's obsession with exoticism. Yes, there were points where I wanted to know what would happen next but I was mainly counting the pages to the end, where things turn out to sadly resemble a made-for-video matinee film.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A multicultural adventure,
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This review is from: English Harem (Paperback)
A young London working class girl becomes one of three wives of a middle aged Persian. Superb characterizations; funny; touching; a novel about goodness (in a totally unmawkish way) in the midst of lack of understanding and (for a few pages) of unbearable wickedness; full of unexpected developments until the very last page.
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