A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS IN CAIRO (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

Alex has just returned from studies in England and compares the two countries. He takes over the business from his ailing father and comes face to face with the sad and not so sad realities of Egyptian life and its people. He tries to build up a reasonable life for himself centered on physical activities and sport that seems to be part of his gene makeup. Through one of his employees he gets acqainted with Talaat Bey, a senior employee in one of the nationalized companies. Talaat seems to hound him and even seems to offer his young wife, Leila, as bait. He encourages their meeting and suggests they play squash and tennis together. Leila is a beautiful mature woman and inevitably a love affair develops between her and Alex, apparently with Talaat blessings. Talaat, after a radical prostatectomy is impotent and this weighs heavily on his conscience. He loves the beautiful Leila deeply and generously and sees this romance as a means of keeping her at his side. He abandons the egoisms of a husband and takes on the role of a father addressing her constantly as "my daughter". The cancer spreads and Talaat dies throwing the couple at the mercy of unrelenting Egyptian and moslem conventions of propriety. They fight them as best they can but it is a losing game....