Customer Reviews

Nadia's Song

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A wonderful read... could not put it down - finished it in one night. The book has a great storyline - the characters are well developed and the historical facts about Egypt were very educational and opened my eys to a new world. Have now read all 3 books by this author and can't wait for the next book.

This book was a disappointment comparing to "Mosaic". The beginning of the book was great, I loved the Mid-Eastern setting and Egyptian history mixed with the romance and touching details of family's everyday life. But towards the middle it felt too much like the cheap paperback love-novel with cookie-cutter characters: 100% evil uncle, 100% mysterious and adventurous hunk who appears and disappears, a girl who earns 6-figure with hardly any efforts but cannot find a man to date....*yawn*. Characters got so shallow and black-and-white I was struggling to get to the end of the book.
The reason I am giving it 3 stars and not 1 is because first of all the beginning of the book is great, plus there is interesting Egyptian historical background to the story. My advice - don't waste your money and rent this book from the library. If you want to buy a great book that is nicely written, has awesome plot twists and Mid-Eastern setting, then buy "Mosaic" by Soheir Khashoggi instead

This story takes place in Egypt during the decades of World War II. It is centered around Karima, who in the beginning of the story has died. Her long lost daughter Gaby who got to meet her mother before she died is attending the funeral that day. After this point, the story rolls back in time when Karima was young, and a talented vocalist with much potential.

Karima Ismail, growing up a child of wealthy parents, has fallen head over heels with Charles, the son of their servants. Though their love was forbidden, they carried on behind their parents back, and Karima becomes pregnant. Charles dies in a terrible car accident, before he even realizes that Karima is carrying his child. Karima cannot tell her father this, as she is filled with shame. When her wicked brother Omar finds out, there is hell to pay for Karima, as he despises her. Once Omar discovers this, then he fixes Karima up with a husband so and moves her oaway from their lives so as not to disgrace the family. Shortly after Karima marries Munir, Nadia is born and is the bright spot in Karima's life, along with Munir who loves her as his own.

When Nadia was 2, a horrible fire breaks out in Cairo, and everyone in the building has to run for their lives. Nadia ran off by herself, and stayed on a pile of rubble before being discovered by Tarik and Celine. They mean to rescue the child, and they do. But they don't bother to return her-and instead they want a child so badly of their own, that they adopt Nadia, and she becomes officially their daughter. She is named Gabrille, and is never told what really happened with her.

In the meantime, Karima is heartbroken. She is lost without her little daughter like any mother would be; yet she manages to continue on in fame and fortune with her vocal career. She wll not find Nadia for years to come until Nadia uncovers the truth, and by that time Nadia has almost grown up, losing her other mother, Celine, to cancer. After her death, Tarik tells her the truth, and it is at that point that Nadia seeks out her birthplace and finds Karima.

The two become good friends and travel back and forth to visit each other often. Tragedy comes into the story when Omar sets up someone to kill his sister. But he doesn't get by with it when Nadia, the perceptive person that she is, uncovers the details as to what really happened in her mother's death.

I thought the book was a fun, quick read. I liked the historical context of the story although I agree that towards the middle of the book the characters became cookie cutter.

I enjoyed Nadia's Song very much indeed. It is a highly readable piece of historical fiction. My husband was born and raised in Egypt and I have heard many of his stories about Sadat, Nasser and Um Kalthoum, and it was great to read about them in this book. The story is well constructed and the historical context it is set in is very convincing. I think Ms Khashoggi wrote her characters well, but I did not like the ending very much. The kidnapping storyline was very rushed, contrived and unsatisfying. Minor quibble, though, as all that came before that was great. Highly recommended, I loved it.

I enjoyed this book very much, and I will be sharing the book with a couple of friends.
There were times I became a little confused when timelines were jumped. There was a lot of history in the beginning which for me hurt the story a little, because everything in the beginning was shared with great detail so the ending felt rushed.
It took me a while to get into the story, but once I did, I had trouble putting it down.

I bought this book quite a while ago, and somehow never got to reading it until today. I think that one's opinion on this book would depend on how it's looked at. To me, the story of the main characters was almost secondary to the political conflicts of Egypt, but I felt they tied in to each other nicely. I had to refer back to earlier sections of the book to remember who some background characters were, but it definitely kept my interest. People have to remember that since it spans several generations, that not everything is going to be perfectly described. The uncle being 100% evil...depends on the perspective. He was certainly not honest, but he is a believable character. The influences that shaped him were definitely shown, so you could understand why he was the way he was. There is a possibility for some sympathy-he was a product of the times. At any rate, I thought this book was well worth my money, and will most likely end up reading the author's other books.

I agree with the other reviewer who found this book disappointing because of the poorly developed characters. I am about 3/4 of the way through the book, and am finding it hard to finish; not because it is a difficult read, but because every plot twist (and most of the dialogue) makes me want to roll my eyes. One improbable tragedy is often necessary to create interesting fiction. Ten of them is just... improbable. The characters are either 100% good, or 100% bad. Sometimes the bad ones have a moment of realization and turn good, but there is really not much in the way of multi-faceted characterizations, and even these moments of catharsis lack a realistic feel.

However, the parts about Egypt, its culture and history have a ring of authenticity about them.

The descriptions of the feasts, for example, are not overdone, and yet enough to make you crave a style of food you've never had. The descriptions of the music are enough to make you want to hear it, and after reading this book, you'll look a little differently at a map of North Africa when planning your next foreign vacation.

I haven't read "Mosaic", but perhaps I'll have to check it out.