Nile

by Laurie Devine

The love affair between Mona, a poverty-stricken Moslem woman, and Youssef al-Masri, a member of a rich and powerful Arab-Jewish family, is set against the turbulent background of modern Israeli and Egyptian history

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

"For two generations, through the 1948 and Suez conflicts, the 1967 and October wars, in the backwaters of Upper Egypt and in the slums of Cairo, on a kibbutz near Gaza and inside the Old City walls of Jerusalem, Mona and Youssef, their children and their children's children try to repair that fatal rift between Arabs and Jews. Their lives are emblematic of the family blood feud that still rends the Middle East today." (from book cover)

This is a star-crossed love story of two people--Mona (Egyptian and Arab) and Youssef (a Jew but born in Egypt). How their lives are tossed and controlled by outside forces too big for them to resist. Multiple plots, sub-plots are woven like a Persian tapestry throughout. The Nile is a major theme in this story and the descriptive narrations help you to "see" the dirt, the sand, the heat, and the grinding poverty that still exists in Egypt today. It's a battle between old customs and modern dilemmas and the choices that all of us have to make along the river called life.

For adult readers due to graphic content (female circumcision and attempted rape).

[JoAnna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fictional story takes place in Egypt and Israel between 1945 and 1978, when the two countries -- and the Arabs and Jews within them -- were in fierce and violent conflict. It centers on Mona and Youssef -- one Muslim and the other Jewish -- who are star-crossed lovers destined by their circumstances never to be together. In many ways, the circumstances in this story feel as relevant today as they did in the past. The storytelling of Nile is good enough, but the last half of the book was particularly slow and tedious, especially as it was obvious where the story was leading. There's not really a climax; just a slow deterioration of everyone's lives and hope for a better future.

[Rachelle Seymore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel about Mona, an Egyptian Muslim, and Youssef, a Jewish Egyptian taking place between 1945 and 1978. The book was first published in 1983 but could have been yesterday as nothing has changed in the geo-political terrain. Perhaps the hatred has just become more.

Mona came from a poor Muslim background and as a young girl was taken into the employ of the al-Masri's, a wealthy Jewish family. She grew up with Youssef, but theirs was a love that could never be.
War broke out and the Jews had to flee Egypt.
The story takes many twists and turns but it is very sad.

The book is well written and I believe well researched in terms of how the different cultures lived, hated and the wars that were fought.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and shed some tears toward the end.
A lovely read!

[David Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was recently turned on to Laurie Devine's books, and now I can't get enough. Each book takes place in a different region (I read Kronos as well), and Devine is a master of writing these places. Her settings are jewel boxes that hold characters you'll be thinking about long after you finish reading.

In Nile, you have a romance that crosses class boundaries, but don't mistake this for a cheap romance book on a grocery store shelf. Devine's female characters are robust, complex, and multi-faceted, and they read as richly as some of the finest literary fiction I've read in a decade.

[Megan McCallister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published decades ago, Nile (along with, I believe, several of Laurie Devine's books) has now been republished in e-book format. And oh, I'm so glad this book was not lost to an out-of-print ether. I read an old review of Nile that described it as painting a picture both beautiful and melancholy, and that description is apt. Devine clearly knows her characters (and the places they call home, both descriptively, emotionally, and historically). It is very much a love story between its central characters (a poor girl and a well-to-do boy), but it as much a love story to a place.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book takes place in poor villages in Upper Egypt, in Cairo, in Alexandria, a kibbitz near Gaza and in Jerusalem during the 40's and ends in the late 60's. Lots of turmoil and hatred of the Jews nixes life for a poor Muslim, Egyptian peasant girl and her rich Egyptian Jew. Well written with lots of history of the Middle East during that time period as well as a lot of insight to being a Muslim and a Jew.

[Golda P · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's probably out of print, and the cover looked like a trashy romance novel, but it was actually well written and fascinating.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book although I thought it started dragging towards the end.

[Windy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long time ago when I read this book. As a teenager I round it compelling and eye-opening.

[Catherina North · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it