Virgins of Paradise

I bought a month ago and started to read it. When I was half way throu it really absorbed in the story, I shared my views with a friend, and found out there was apart missing, the prologue. Inmediatly I got in touch with Amazon and told them about it. So far they have not updated the complete virsion. It is a pity as the book is really good. You can do without the prologue at the bigginnig, but by 3/4 of the book you need to read it. So that the end makes sense.The story lets you see and understand egypt s history and culture. It made me want to know more about Egypt as a country.

This book was reall good. I love historical type books but this type isn't one I've read before. This be starts out in 1945 in Egypt. And spans until almost the pleasant day. It is a family novel rich in history of the times, and as a Jew I found it t be in a lot f ways the other side of the coin for me. This family aren't Jewhaters though, in fact the family matriarch has a Jewish woman as her neighbor and best friend, she considers her to be a sister. IT starts out with the family being the friends and Doctor of the King, and goes through the coup that overthrows the Royal family, and what happens to those that were friends with them. I really found this to be a really good read, and am thankful that a cousin of mine recommended it to me. I recommend it to you. I hate paying that much for an ebook but it is worth it.

Author Barbara Wood brings her readers into the Egypt of King Farouk's era, gradually encompassing the times of Nasser, Sadat, and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. Much more than a history, it is a multi-generational saga of a family and its many offshoots of clan, stories, and lives.Having visited Egypt, I can attest to Wood's ability to bring alive the scenery and scents. Her rendering of Cairo, the Nile, and the fellucas is evocative of the city I remember. As a reader you will be transported to a foreign land and quickly swept up into an engaging, complex story.Her treatment of the subjugation of girls and women reflects the dichotomy of their status today. Some prefer the old ways while others, chafe at its restrictions and want freedom: of their bodies, their minds, the lives they will lead and the possibility of having careers.Woods' book is reminiscent of a wonderful story; The Toss of a Lemon, by Padma Viswanathan. She wrote about a multi-generational Brahmin family and how it changed through decades. If you enjoy stories such as these, read both. You won't be disappointed.

This novel got off to a plesant start. Barbara Wood certainly knows how to take a reader to another time and place and make it real. Her research was obviously very excellent. Her writing style is terrific also. I simply did not care for this particular novel. After a great beginning, I gradually grew sick and tired of Amira, the grandmother of the house. The woman controls everything and everyone, holds back her own sex with her ignorance, marries her daughters and granddaughters off to absusive or hateful men, and then bans them from her home. And everytime something awful happens, the woman declares it is "god's will." Her ways, her comments, and her total control grew infuriating for me. I felt the story was more about Amira than Camelia and Jasmine combined. Alice, an English woman and Jasmine's mother, plays such a small, insignificant role, I wonder why her character existed after Jasmine was born. The poor woman truly serves as a quiet wall flower. I did, however, enjoy reading about the Islam culture and women in general and the way they started fighting for their rights. I also enjoyed the passionate twists and romances. If Amira, aka Control Freak, had simply died early in the story, the book would have been absolutely wonderful. As it was, with her running the show constantly, it grew too repetitive for my taste. However, if you do not mind reading about women constantly being mentally beat down and you want to understand Egypt and its history, I recommend this novel.

Women in the United States can do anything; a woman's place is anywhere she wants to be. In Muslim societies throughout the world, her role is seriously limited. Egypt has opened many avenues to women, promoted birth control, discouraged female circumcism, cast off veils and travel restrictions, only to see Islamic militants try to bring them back.This work of fiction travels the path of change, following the matriarch and her descendents for nearly eight decades as they challenge the restrictions and laws that have devalued women throughout the culture's history.

Really great multigenerational book that captures the culture very well.

I really enjoyed reading "Virgins of Paradise." I feel Amira, the character this story was built upon, was a women who was to be admired and critized at the same time. Although she was portrayed as a woman of strength and conviction, these very convictions caused much pain in her life. The story itself was a little long and there were so many characters in the book that you sometimes became overwelmed with the lineage. It was sad to see how little women were respected in Egypt and this continues right up to this very day. It is good that modern Egyption women are fighting back. Barbara Wood did an excetional job with this factual, enlightening and moving historical fiction.

Enjoyed the political history of Egypt and the of Rasheed family. The writer develops the story exquisitively respecting the traditions of the religion and the country. Loved the story.

I have really enjoyed this novel with all its characters and plot twists, its history and its scents, in spite of many glimpses of repulsive orientalism sometimes. The author has done a great job with the cultural and histroical research and managed masterfully to depict generations of women of one family, each with her own story, background and distinct personality. I personally fell in love with Camelia, her glamour and her determination. I recommend the story to anyone who is interested in the post fifties era in Egypt and the transitional period from monarchy to army control.

Beautiful book enchanting

It was the first book I read by this author. I was not very convinced before starting because I thought it may be another one of these books of western people critisising the arab culture without proper knowledge. I found it very good, very interesting and could not stop reading until the end. I highly reccommend it!

I have read this book at least 6 times,Its such a wonderful story,exciting,sad and romantic as well. Iive even had my friend take my old copy over to Egypt with her to read when she went on hol.The story all entwines just like" love actually "the film where everyones related in one way or another.

I loved the book. It was a good read and also very interesting to get to know more about the culture.