From a Cairo housetop a woman addresses a bird for news, and the novel draws the reader down into the closed world of the harem below. An English bride enters an Egyptian household and learns its rituals, rivalries and remedies from the women around her, among them the formidable Fitnah Khânum. Pickthall knew the Arab world closely and writes it from the inside.
An unusual Edwardian novel of women’s lives in Egypt, by the writer who later translated the Qur’an into English. Download the free EPUB.