Author: Jennifer Anderson
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-60693-929-1

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The Arabic word for “fifty” is Khamsin. The term also refers to the dry, hot, violent and dusty wind that blows in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. These winds with their enormous speed carry an immense quantity of sand and dust from the desert. In just a few hours the temperature can rise as much as twenty degrees centigrade. It is believed that the winds blow at intervals for about fifty days and anyone who has experienced the Khamsin can tell you how uncomfortable and frightening it can be. It is during this time in Cairo, Egypt, where former foreign correspondent, Jennifer Anderson sets the pulse of her debut novel Ill Wind in Egypt.

Anderson's principal character, Ava Barby is portrayed as a tough-minded television journalist, who was born in Lebanon, educated at the University of Paris, as well as Stanford in California. She describes herself as French-American. Ava is also known to play hard, particularly when it comes to drinking and men. She is employed by the European Cable News (ECN) in their Cairo bureau, and as she states: “I'm Arab some days. Sometimes Egypt's failing feel like my own. Other times I feel stateless, an outsider, an observer, disembodied.” Everything is predictable for Ava and according to her “reporting is no more than a tired game with equations.” She has a pat formula where all you have to do is add X and Y, and you arrive at Z. However, her recipe doesn't always work out, particularly when she is thrown into the middle of an Egyptian election in 1983.

As the story unfolds, we witness Ava covering a story concerning the discovery of a new Pharaoh's burial chamber. Apparently, this pharaoh, Armen-Ra, unlike most pharaohs, however, was poor and destitute. She is informed by Minister Yusef Waly that the pharaoh is the second or third priest-king of the Twenty-first dynasty. Ava was sure that she would at least receive a “well done” compliment from her superiors for this exclusive. However, such was not the case, and instead she is scolded for missing the religious clashes in a southern town near Assyut.

In search of another newsworthy event, and promising herself that this would be her last expedition, Ava returns to the desert during the horrendous Khamsin, whereupon she comes in contact with a stranger, whom she names Victor. Ava also discovers a reclining megalith with ancient inscriptions, one of the many Ramses II had scattered over Egypt. She describes it as follows: “They were like messages in a bottle drifting on the desert. The exploration felt as intimate as touching Vic.” Questioning Victor as to who talks to him, he replies, it is Sesotis, the last king of the Twentieth Dynasty. Confused, Barby tells Victor that the statue is Ramses II and Nineteenth Dynasty. To which Victor answers, Seositis appropriated Ramses II and his monuments.

Candidly, I didn't have a clue as to how all of this was going to play out and become interwoven into the principal story concerning Egyptian politics and the elections. Generally, when elections are held in Egypt, it is a sham and there is little doubt as to its outcome. In our story, when President Ismat Hassenein abolishes the constitution and calls an election, pandemonium breaks loose. Incidentally, the use of emergency laws to sustain leaders in power is not foreign to Egypt. President Mubarak has remained in power using the Emergency Law, which has been in effect since 1981.

The interior minister, Hanafi Fouad and a religious zealot, Sheikh Abdullah throw their hats into the ring and oppose him. As Ava covers the story, she becomes enmeshed with the upheaval, and as the back cover of the book states: “the murder, spying and mayhem that were just words in her news scripts become part of her life...and the turmoil masks a plot that changes Egypt's destiny as relentlessly as it changes Ava's.”

Anderson pulls no punches, as she is quite adept at hooking in her readers with her gritty realism and richly textured descriptions. Her effortless sense of time, particularly when using the fifty day period of the Khamsin to spin her story is quite clever. In addition, her capturing of the exotic culture of the modern day Egypt, as well as her depictions of characters and place are right on the mark. Adding authenticity to the yarn, Anderson sprinkles in several Arabic expressions that impart a great deal of flavor and understanding of the ordinary Egyptian whose life is certainly not a bowl of cherries. (It should be noted that about forty percent of the population live on less than two dollars a day).

One such common expression that is often heard among Egyptians is Ma'alesh. As Ava mentions, this is a term that can be used for several purposes-a shrug, an apology, an excuse or simply, don't worry or sweat it, things will turn out, which is often a good insight of how Egyptians view life. I even got a kick out of her reference to one of the staples of the poor man's Egyptian cuisine, Fool Mudammas, which are fava beans that are cooked until tender, mashed and then mixed with olive oil and seasonings, usually lemon juice and cumin. My wife, who was born in Egypt, introduced me to this delicious and filling dish, particularly when eaten with pita bread.

One caveat I do have, readers will sometimes need to concentrate to catch the drift of some of Anderson's dialogue, which can prove to be a trifle difficult at times to understand. Nonetheless, if you keep with the story, you won't be disappointed with this dramatically compelling novel.

Although Ill Wind In Egypt is a work of fiction, I asked myself , could this possibly be Egypt's destiny? With an aging President Mubarak, who has had health problems over the past few years and where democracy is a farce, will it go the way of Iran and come under the leadership of religious zealots?

Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With Jennifer Anderson


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