Rowan Somerville

Perhaps the reading slump is slowly ending. Last month I managed to put away a decent number, and among those was this charmer that floated up in the library's recommendations. Now mind, it had just the one review on here, but I was immediately drawn to it. Was it the sheep on the cover?

The book turned out exactly as I had envisioned. Our hero is an ex-journalist (he's just been sacked) named Fin still stationed in Cairo. The entire novel follows Fin around one day of his life, stages of the day marked out by the five calls to prayer.

Fin's friend Farouk provides the impetus for the story, of which there are two elements. One is the mistaken identity tangle that leads both into quite a spot of danger, and the other is the folktale told by Farouk that entices Fin's journalistic nose with the hint of a rich story.

And so we follow Fin around, gaining little bits of info and a lot of accurate and achingly funny vignettes on Cairo herself. Surely this is one of the most fascinating cities on earth. Chaotic, often appearing charmless and mired in layers of who knows how many centuries of history, you nevertheless understand why Fin is still hanging around here. In the shadows of the Pyramids is where the novel ends, and I confess I was left wanting a sequel.

Admittedly the folktale part of the story did not quite keep me as engaged as the other bits. But I still loved my day with Fin. I will procure a copy for my home library too, a sure sign of being enamored. Plus, for some reason the author looks exactly like Fin, and this delighted me further. Please Fin, I mean Rowan, write one more for me!… (mer)

Quite a beautiful book to read- and informative too if a bit confusing in parts.
Fin is a now sacked +journalist who lives in a village that is in the shadows of The Pyramids.
The book follows Fin through dawn till dusk of one day ...or through the five calls to prayer in the Islamic Faith.
He has a friend called Farouk and the plot revolves around this friendship , mistaken identity, and Fin's ultimate obsession with a story Farouk introduces him to...all mixed with wonderful descriptions of Egyptian life culture and food.
I was quite entranced by this book though had to have breaks as it was a lot to take in and follow and the descriptions were best read slowly and absorbed and savoured.... much like the food and drink so eaten.
Quite a literary feast.… (mer)