Spring

by Leila Rafei

Three stories. One revolution. Eighteen days in Egypt.

Sami is no revolutionary. When the Arab Spring breaks out in 2011, he's busy finishing school in Cairo and hiding his relationship with an American woman from his conservative mother, Suad. It's a task that's becoming impossible as events take a catastrophic turn.

But Suad won't be fooled -- her son has been distant and she knows it's not about politics. Far away in the Nile Delta, she spends her days tending obsessively to her lemon grove, which is quickly becoming her last vestige of control. The only child who remains by her side is her daughter, but as she, too, gets involved with the protests, Suad realizes it won't last for long.

There's one person who knows exactly what's going on in the family, and she wishes she didn't. The maid, Jamila, already has too much to worry about as a refugee who's lobbying for resettlement, expecting a baby, and looking for her missing husband. All she wants is stability, and that her dreams won't be thwarted by the unrest sweeping a city she doesn't belong to -- a city that doesn't even want her there.

As the country revolts against the regime it has always known, Jamila, Sami, and Suad find themselves caught in the whirlwind as they examine their own life choices and, in some cases, deal with the inevitable heartbreak that follows when revolution is not always what it seems.

Genres: Fiction, Egypt, Contemporary, Africa, Historical Fiction, Novels, Politics

Kindle Edition

First published August 25, 2020

Reviews

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when your country moves into open revolt? When your fellow citizens decide enough is enough? Where do ‘regular people’ fall during this split between protesters and the enforcers?

If these questions resonate with you, you may have been around during the Arab Spring in 2011. Or you might be living in the US in 2020. Or Hong Kong in 2019. Or Latin & South America since 2015. And on, and on, and on...

There really hasn’t been a period in time where people weren’t fighting for their rights against oppressors, whatever form they may take. In Egypt during the first few months of 2011, people were inspired by the initial protests in Tunisia at the end of 2010, which ended up spreading widely through the Middle East. The protestors moved against authoritarianism and corruption, against poverty and unemployment. They were met with violence and attempts at further suppression. Many regimes, including Egypt‘s, turned off their phones and internet access. There were curfews and people were jailed without justification.

But just outside these uprisings are the countless people just living their lives. They may not be actively participating, but that does not exclude them from the effects of all the upheaval. Their proximity makes them involved, whether they want to be or not. And the characters in Spring, by and large, definitely do not.

Sami and his American girlfriend, Rose, are trying to figure out how to make their relationship work when they seem to have so little in common. Rose’s maid, Jamila, is a pregnant Sudanese refugee that’s struggling to find her place. And Sami’s mother, Suad, can’t help but worry about how both he and his sister, Ayah, are going to thrive in this world that seems so different from the one she grew up in. They each try to wage their own personal battles but are unable to ignore the changes taking place around them. These types of conflicts have a way of dragging everyone into the fray.

This isn’t a book about the Arab Spring as much as it is one about how characters coped while living through it. In that way, it might be even more relevant to the average person reading. For those of us who find it easier to ‘not take a side’—it might be more difficult for you down the road. You can’t play bystander for long before it’s all on your doorstep.

While reading, I came across this New York Times article written less than a week ago. I’d recommend it anyone who wants to understand what’s at stake here. The author compares some of the differences and similarities between the movement in the US right now and the one in Egypt in 2011. (Would you believe that Donald Trump called Egypt’s current autocrat, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, “my favorite dictator”? I mean, yeah, probably.)

This is Leila Rafei’s debut novel. I know I’ve talked a lot about the implications of the real-life events that take place in it, but know that this is also a very good book! She writes beautifully and evocatively, in a way that would make me want to visit the country under different circumstances. I hope that she continues to write and I’m very interested in what else she has to say.

I don’t think I’ve ever been the first review for a book on Goodreads, but I’m guessing with the continued unrest in the United States, there may be an increased interest in books set during modern revolutionary periods. Another one I’ve got on my TBR, also from Blackstone, A Door Between Us by Ehsaneh Sadr, which takes place amidst the Iranian Green Wave protests in 2009. With all of the new reading the book community is doing to better educate themselves on racial justice and inequality, I just hope we’ll be able to translate this information into some systemic change in this country. If not I’m afraid we’ll end up repeating the very same mistakes that led us to this point in the first place.

*Thanks to Blackstone Publishing & Netgalley for an advance copy!

[Anna Morgenstern · Rating 3 out of 5]

While at the beginning it seemed promising; the characters, the route the plot was taking, and the time in which it was taking place.
I really liked the premise and found, and still find the time frame and Egypt itself interesting, however, as the story progressed, the characters felt flatter and flatter, none of them had undergone any developments or a unique voice, to the point that towards the end, you could hardly distinguish between any of them.
The writing is good, there's no question about that aspect of the book, the plot was somewhat interesting to have me finish it fast enough but that too was lacking.
I won't spoil the end, but I will mention that it is very unsatisfying.

It's not a bad book by any means and I'm sure other readers would like it, unfortunately for me, that wasn't the case.

[lady h]

yooooo an #ownvoices novel about egypt??? huzzah!!!

[Suzy (readaholicmom) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spring is the debut novel of Leila Rafei who tells a gripping story that takes place in Egypt during the "Arab Spring". The story itself isn't mostly about the revolution and its uprising but more about the three people who are living through it!

Rafie takes us on a journey through these three characters to show us a glimpse of culture, religion and old traditions that are still alive in the Arab world to this day. As an Arab myself, I can relate to her story telling but for those who are not, Rafie did an amazing job conveying the story as a whole through her writing.

There where many moments in this story that had me aggravated, especially with Sami at the end. I was also aggravated with Suad's naiveness with the world around her, but can understand it because of her uneducated old school mentality. I loved the story as a whole, Rafie did a great job connecting the character together and showing us the reason behind why they were the way they were. I would definitely read a novel by Leila Rafie again.

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing, Booksparks and Leila Rafie for my advanced copy. All thoughts are my own!

[Christopher Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on Amazon a few weeks back, while looking for another book for my book club. I had never heard of this title before, and to be honest I thought the cover was pretty cool looking! I went to B&N about a week later, and lo and below, they had a copy there!

Once I started reading this debut novel, I was instantly sucked into the story. I loved it! This was a beautiful, tragic and educational adventure for me! I loved the story, the scenery, everything about this novel! This book should definitely get more buzz!

[Ehsaneh Sadr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, lyrical novel about the Arab Spring in Egypt and the way it upended the hopes and dreams of three related characters. The prose is absolutely gorgeous with stunning detail that sucks you into every scene. Characters are complex and entirely believable. Their flawed human interactions, their loneliness, and their struggles to figure out their own individual dramas in the midst of national upheaval are what drive the story forward. Excellent read!

[Jessica Whelan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the writing. A lot. The author is descriptive when she needs to be, and I found much of it beautiful and vivid.

I adored the connection of the characters to the Nile, the one unifying factor tying each of them to Egypt. I liked how Rafei was able to connect the spirit of the Nile into something real and concrete: characters’ adoration and dismay towards Egypt. Still, they stay.

Spoilers!

Suad was an interesting character although I didn’t feel as much of an inclination towards her as I presume the author wanted. Possibly this was due to a culture clash, as her character came off judgmental and laced with modern atrocities. A prime example being: trying to find her adult son a wife when she discovers he is 1. clearly with a woman 2. most likely not virginal. A wife who would have “upright morals and the bloody sheets to prove it.”

Yikes. Her standards for her son (and men) are vastly different for women., which (yes) is due to her traditional beliefs. While I can’t foul her character on her adherence to her culture and religion, it became hard for me to like the character at all.

Another unlikable character was Sami who was so overwhelmed with his cultural/familial obligation, that he often dismissed his moral obligation. But he wasn’t so drawn to his cultural/familial obligation that he chose to honor it. Did Sami have feelings? Torn between Rose (straying from traditionalism) and is mother, Suad (being a “good religious boy”): he can never choose and that, in the end, is so watery. I wanted so badly for him to stand for something or someone.

Throughout the book, Suad’s overt obsession with her son and lack of interest with the child (Ayah) that still lived in her home was bothersome. She plucked her lemons, called her son, and sighed at her daughter.

The author portrays Suad’s recognition of her “constant ruminations of men and lemons.” And men and lemons were indeed her preoccupation, which led to a banal understanding of her. In the end, I feel compelled to feel sorry for Suad but only on a basic level. Her judgements overpower this feeling of sympathy.

I feel the closest pull is to Jamila. Her character is both calm (when being objectified by men she works for) but strong (traveling on her own, amongst a revolution, to find her missing husband). I like Rafei’s ability to conjugate both identities into one warm, likable character. I also liked the part where she reads tealeaves.

Overall, I think the judgmental tones didn’t sit right with me. That being said this is coming from an American in 2020, whom has feminist ideals and doesn’t see the value in over-dedication to religion/culture when it (obviously) makes one unhappy. For example, Suad’s devotion to her estranged husband who has cheated and embarrassed her.

I love her descriptions: favorites include flesh being equated to milk pudding. I enjoy reading intricate/quirky but eloquent descriptions, and her writing encompassed that all. Drank every word like a sticky-sweet glass of Qamar El-Din juice, blood-orange skies, verdant lotus. She is an amazing writer and I enjoyed the book. I just couldn’t get over the judging.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Men suffered traumas with a timeframe. Prison sentences. Bouts of torture. War. But women fought a losing fight until the day they died—in the streets, in the home, at work. On buses, even. In elevators and bathroom stalls. Everywhere.

　　 　　 　　 　 　　　 　　⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Jamila is a Sudanese refugee, pregnant and alone after her husband was vanished by the corrupt police. Sami is an Egyptian university student, stuck on an engineering course he hates, determined to live a life beyond that which his mother wants for him. Rose is a white American, pregnant with Sami's unwanted baby, and sticking out like a sore thumb in the crowds of Cairo. When revolution hits Egypt, all three find their lives turned upside down.

This book is 500 pages, but it didn't feel it at all. I whizzed through in no time, with the strength of the characterisation carrying the otherwise bare-bones plot along at a brisk pace. I loved Suad, Sami's mother, clinging on to her adolescent crush in a loveless marriage and fretting about her son not answering his phone. I loved Fifi, the aging diva who Jamila worked for as a maid, with her constant oscillation between laughter and hysteria and binge-eating. I loved Jamila herself, and the realism of her fear and stress and refusal to give in to the helplessness of her situation. I absolutely hated Sami, (which isn't a bad thing!) and his utter spinelessness towards every woman in his life (in fact, every man in this book is a worthless loser, not just Sami).

I wish the book ended differently, however. It seems very abrupt and unfinished (perhaps intentionally - to mirror the messy, unfinished nature of the actual Arab Spring). I think the decision to centre Sami over the two women was a mistake, as he's just too unsympathetic a character to carry the story himself.

All in all, three stars.

[David Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

​This novel is a quick read and an enjoyable ​one at that​. The Cairo locations seem authentic to me from my ​occasional visits to the city over the years, ​i​ncluding a 6​-week stint right around the time that events of this novel take place. So​, for example, the goings on in and around ​Tahrir ​S​quare ring true from my vantage point.

Walking around Cairo can be a real hassle. I've traveled all over Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and I have to say that I've never in my life experienced so much harassment anywhere else except possibly in parts of India. So it's kind of refreshing to be able to experience this city through the pages of a book for once.

I enjoyed the two subplots, including the one involving Sami’s mother, which took place amidst lemon grows on an estate in a rural corner of Egypt. In fact, a major strength of the book is the varied locations alongside varied and colorful characters.

The ending, as it pertains to Sami, struck me as unfortunate. But Sami is just a college-aged youth, so hopefully, as he matures, he'll realize that his mother's views on religion don't have to be his and that he won't have to sacrifice his aspirations due to a simplistic understanding of his faith. After all, as the Qur'an tells us, God is generous.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leila and I both lived in Cairo during the tumultuous events of the Arab Spring and I enjoyed her fictional retelling of the 25 January Revolution through the eyes of an Egyptian family and its generational divides. Rafei's story reflects a larger reality throughout the Middle East. In Spring, the family's matriarch Suad longs for the past and holds tightly to tradition and religion. She fears the Revolutionaries in Tahrir square and worries that her children are abandoning her values. Her children, Sami and Ayah view the world differently. While Sami is politically indifferent, he is depressed with his lot in life and worries about his mother discovering his libertine lifestyle. He spends his time with his foreign girlfriend Rose, who like many foreigners, thinks she knows more about Egypt than Egyptians. Ayah on the other eagerly cheers on the revolutionaries from her keyboard as part of young tech savy generation.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book Club Book 190 - Chosen by Carla!

I had not finished the book when our Book Club met and this is what I had to say!

I am reading it and whilst I am enjoying it, I also have to say that I’m not liking it! Or maybe I should say I am liking it but I am not enjoying it! I’m not really sure which! Perhaps when I finish it I may change my opinion but for now even though there are four main characters, I don’t feel like the story has gone anywhere and I am at 70% read of the book. Obviously something has to happen in the last third of the book to make the book interesting but I am on the fence I’m afraid. I do however like the fact that it has opened our mind to the revolution that took place in Egypt and I do remember sometime back, all the news about Egypt so I do appreciate that we are learning about another world event.

[Courtney A.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a character-driven novel focused on the lives of people close to our main character, Sami. We meet them as they are all in various states of personal unrest, and as the country is moving toward political unrest.

The writing is good, and the author does a fantastic job of keeping the chapters connected as the point of view changes. While almost all of the characters are deeply unlikable, it was clear that this was done with intention. We're supposed to juxtapose the deeply religious with the more modern, with the struggle against cultural identity. Each representation is clear and well done.

The ending is unforgivably abrupt. We're only given an ending for Sami's story. Based on character development, we can make assumptions about the others, but nothing is satisfying about it. There is at least one glaring and frustrating loose end that could have made for a fantatic contribution to Suad's story.

Overall, I liked the book, and I think it's a really good debut work. I do not doubt that the author's next work will be amazing. She's one to watch.

[Flavia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very close to being 5 stars from me: the writing is both beautiful and grounded, the subject matter interesting, etc., except that the utterly depthless Sami and Rose were really not compelling enough at all to carry as much of the book as they did. Obviously, they and their situation were important to Suad's and Jamila's storylines (which I loved), but I do think that's all they should have been, rather than protagonists in their own right. Still, the fact that this was so absorbing and hard to put down even through Sami- and Rose-focused chapters is a testament to Rafei's deft and impactful writing.

[Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a gripping read, and the prose was absolutely gorgeous but I lowkey hated every character in this book except for Jamila — I wish we could have seen more of her. And don’t even get me started on Sami, especially at the end. Overall a good read though. I’ve never been to Egypt/Cairo, but I felt as if I was there while reading.

[Hasheemah Afaneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast read - it takes place over the Egyptian revolution and follows the lives of 4 characters. I don't know how to feel about Sami, but I feel sorry for Rose, Jamila and Suad. It was a great book! The characters were well developed. I find myself wanting more - I want to know more about the women in the book.

[Karen D-S · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really tedious. None of the characters were particularly likable or compelling. I do not recommend it.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not get into this, and it was a struggle to finish. I liked certain aspects of Suad, Jamila, and Sami/Rose’s stories, but overall this book was not a winner for me. Sami was such a coward.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending seems so unfinished that it destroyed whole impression of the book. I did like most parts of it.

[Tanisha]

DNF: p. 74

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spring by Leila Rafei adeptly casts the Arab Spring uprising as a backdrop for upheaval in the lives of three ordinary people in her extraordinary debut novel.

In 2011, young people descend upon Tahrir Square in Cairo to demand a new government. "The chant rang out again and again. The people demand the fall of the regime." Sami, an Egyptian university student, dimly registers the protesters in the streets although his classes are canceled because of them. "He barely seemed to muster enough energy to get off the couch, let alone march in the street." Jamila, a Sudanese refugee, is seeking permanent asylum. The violence in the streets is an enormous inconvenience as she moves around the city. Suad, Sami's mother, watches the uprising on television. As far as she's concerned, "in Tahrir there were only hooligans, young men with too much time on their hands and too little money in their pockets."

Sami breaches Islamic culture by living with Rose, his pregnant American girlfriend. On top of that guilt, he feels no ideological connection with the protesters and initially avoids Tahrir Square. "To Sami, the thought of getting arrested--and worse yet, Suad finding out--was enough to plant him in place for the entire week, if need be." Yet as his relationship with Rose ends along with the regime, he's drawn to Tahrir, where "it didn't seem to matter anymore... that his whole existence was one of apostasy."

Suad is a religious woman worried about Sami neglecting his faith. Watching the insurgency on TV causes her to review her own small attempts to revolt in a lifetime of unfulfilled dreams. "Deep down in the unmentionable recesses of her mind, Suad sometimes grew tired of relying on God. There were so many prayers that had gone unanswered." Jamila cleans house for Sami and Rose, witnessing the privilege that they take for granted. She avoids the revolutionaries--their cause is not her cause--but she can't ignore them. She fears her asylum request is insignificant in the midst of the insurgency: "Of what worth was her story when people were setting themselves on fire in public and not getting more than a passing mention in the news?"

By allowing the arc of ordinary lives importance over an act of revolution, Rafei elevates her characters and gives their intentions a sense of gravity. Spring is an impressive debut novel that combines the urgency of literary fiction with the timelessness of historical fiction.

-reviewed for Shelf Awareness 8/4/10

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I barely see fiction/non-fiction about Egypt or even North Africa generally and this book deserves a push out into the mainstream.

Spring is a book of many firsts for me. It’s the first fictional book I’ve read about Egypt’s 2011 revolution and the overthrow of Mubarak’s regime, and the first that describes Egypt (not just Cairo) with so much accuracy and authenticity that it was the literal ticket I needed to transport me to the motherland that I’m desperately missing this year.

But it’s also the first one that accurately depicts the thought process of different individuals as the Arab Spring swept across North Africa into Egypt and right into Tahrir Square. Rafei gets the literal translations of Egyptian expressions spot on and those that know the Egyptian dialect will know that it is filled with humour and sarcasm which Rafei converts with mastery.

There are a host of themes explored in Spring: western ideals in the Middle East, traditional values and Islamic and Egyptian cultures and Rafei presents us with a character study of three individuals during this time.

We have Sami, an Engineering student immersing himself into Cairo university life leaving behind his pious and conservative mother in the North-easterly town of Mahalla. Rafei’s choice of the third main protagonist was the most important for me and that was Jamila, whose name literally translates from the word for beautiful in Arabic, a Sudanese refugee seeking asylum. As a non-Egyptian searching for safety and freedom during turbulent times, her external viewpoint provides the connection and perspective in this story.

So what was the sticking point for me?

Although rich in character development, the story lacked the action factor that *I* needed from this book. In addition, Rafei uses Sami’s character to accurately depict a generation of apathetic young men who have been ruined by the state of the nation’s corrupt socioeconomic status. This coupled with the excessive mothering, Sami represents the sort of guy we love to hate which left me feeling agitated!