I loved this author's first book, Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, which was one of my favorite books of the last few years, but was somewhat leery about reading this book, as I had heard people say that it wasn't nearly as good. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the book. However, too me it felt like a b...
In vivid and graceful prose, Lucette Lagnado re-creates the majesty and cosmopolitan glamour of Cairo in the years between World War II and Gamal Abdel Nasser's rise to power. Her father, Leon, was a boulevardier who conducted business on the elegant terrace of Shepheard's Hotel, and later, in th...
Change your name, the mystics say, and you will avert even the most terrible fate. When I was born, nearly four years after the death of Baby Alexandra, my family felt an overwhelming sense of relief followed by a rush of panic. Simcha Allegra, the midwife who delivered me in the back bedroom of ...