A Year in Marrakesh (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"captures the very essence of people and place" Yorkshire Post

About the Author

Peter Mayne was born in England in 1908. At the age of twenty he went out to India, where his father was a serior member of the Department of Education. For a while he worked as a mercantile assistant in a firm of merchant-shippers, but he was never a successful businessman. At the time of Partition, the Pakistan Government invited him to serve as Deputy Secretary to the Ministry of Refugees and Rehabilitation. When the tension died down, he resigned from government service and settled in Morocco to write his first book. He died in 1979.

Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: Eland (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0907871089
• ISBN-13: 978-0907871088
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #506,585 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that makes me jealous, August 5, 2004

By	Glen Dodge "Verbify!" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Oh to be able to relocate to an exotic city and write for an occupation! That's what occurs in "A Year in Marrakesh". While other English citizens are touring Morocco, Peter Mayne relocated there, to become a part of the city of Marrakesh and to come to know it. There are many lively characters here, painted with a comprehensive brush that shows them to be, if not real people, than so realistic seeming that you never find yourself saying, "Yeah, right, like you'd actually meet someone like that."

Also, this book give a gentle entry into the mindset of average Muslim people.

This book will not shake your world-view, but it may give you the hankering to pick up stakes and relocate for a year or more. And isn't that what good travel literature is supposed to do?

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Must know French..., August 6, 2006

By	Ninabee (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This bk was written in 1953. The author uses many French and Moroccan arabic phrases in his writing which makes the experiences & people he encounters feel more authentic but if you aren't familiar with those languages it'd be a frustrating read. Mayne's vignettes are quirky...I never felt as though I got to know him or like him but it was a fairly quick read so I didn't care that much.
There are other books that get to the heart of the Morocco better & deeper with more humor & humanity such as Tahir Shah's "The Caliph's House."

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic !, June 15, 2009

By	jibli - See all my reviews

there is a reason that this book is in print after 55 years and that is that it is a classic. the french no longer rule morocco, tourism has overrun marrakesh, two kings have come and gone, but this book continues to be read. why? for its light, compassionate touch. this was the only book that peter mayne wrote about morocco (he was wounded in an attack on a cafe in the events leading up to the ousting of the french and independence for the moroccan people). it is a fun read.