Ahdaf Soueif, the bestselling author of The Map of Love, writes poignantly and beautifully about love, and about finding one’s place in the world. Achingly lyrical, resonant and richly woven, and with a spark of defiance, these stories explore areas of tension–where women and men are ensnared by cultural and social mores and prescribed notions of “love,” where the place you are is not the place you want to be. Soueif draws her characters with infinite tenderness and compassion as they inhabit a world of lost opportunities, unfulfilled love, and remembrance of times past.

"Soueif (shortlisted for the Booker in 1999 for The Map of Love) serves up a mostly stale collection of previously published stories, all at least a decade old, about clashing cultures and disappointed love. The best are three stories that follow Aisha from her Cairo childhood to a rough period as a teenager in 1964 London, where, as the misfit daughter of Muslim intellectuals, she encounters boorish classmates who tease her about polygamy and camels. Back in Egypt years later, Aisha confronts sorrowful memories of her doomed marriage. Two related stories, also set in England, feature Asya, a Middle Eastern woman moving on after a failed marriage and a miscarriage. Soueif incorporates wonderfully atmospheric details, particularly in the stories set in Egypt, but the stories feel thin and are too frequently overly lyrical. Though competent, these stories comprise the early works of a writer who has come into her own in later works." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

“Soueif is a political analyst and commentator of the best kind.”

London Review of Books

“Highly unusual and richly impressive. . . . The author weaves a circle round us thrice with the touch of a born sorceress.” —The Guardian

“Ahdaf Soueif is one of the most extraordinary chroniclers of sexual politics now writing.”

Edward Said

In these selected stories, the bestselling author of "The Map of Love" writes poignantly about love, friendship, and finding one's place in the world.