Ahdaf Soueif - The Map of Love
Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif on her Booker-shortlisted novel The Map of Love. She explains exactly what has gone wrong in Egypt, in her eyes, over the last decade.
At this crucial moment in Egypt’s story, this month’s World Book Club talks to one of the country’s great writers, Ahdaf Soueif, about her internationally acclaimed novel The Map of Love.
In her Booker-shortlisted bestseller Soueif weaves together two poignant stories separated by a century of Egyptian history: a love story between aristocratic English Anna Winterbourne and romantic firebrand Sharif al-Baroudi, is set amidst the brutality of British imperialism and the fierce political battles of the Egyptian Nationalists. This tale reaches across time to an account of their descendants negotiating passions and political unrest in late 20th Century Egypt. We hear how Soueif had originally set out to write a ‘tawdry romance’ but hadn’t managed to stop herself writing something much more meaningful and monumental!
Listen to this great Egyptian voice clearly and compellingly explain exactly what has gone wrong in Egypt, in her eyes, over the last decade.
Last on
The World Book Club studio
Broadcasts
- Sun 4 Aug 2013 08:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Online
- Sun 4 Aug 2013 21:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Online
Featured in...
African Writers—Listen on the go
From the continent's classics and new writing, the story of Africa's literature
Books that tell history—World Book Club
From Amsterdam's 17th century, to Cape Town and the trenches of WW1
Ten Amazing Interviews
Favourite episodes of World Book Club, featuring Maya Angelou and Henning Mankell.
Crime Fiction
Henning Mankel, Patrica Cornwell, Jo Nesbo: stars of the genre discuss their craft.
Tales from History
From the tulip fields of 17th Century Amsterdam to the trenches of World War One.
Podcast
-
World Book Club
The world's great authors discuss their best-known novel.