Into Suez
3/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
1949: Egypt's struggle against its British occupiers moves towards crisis; Israel declares its statehood, driving out the Arabs; Joe Roberts, an RAF sergeant, his wife Ailsa and daughter, Nia, leave Wales for Egypt.
Into Suez is a compelling human and political drama, set in the postwar period when Britain, the bankrupt victor of the Second World War, attempted to assert itself as an Imperial power in a world wholly altered. The novel is set in the run-up to the Suez Crisis, a template for future invasions (Iraq and Afghanistan being the most recent).
In this moving story, Joe's tragedy is that of an ordinary working man of his generation: he's a lovely, humorous, emotional man in whom the common ration of racism and misogyny becomes a painful sickness. Ailsa, intelligent, curious and craving to explore the realities of the Egypt she enters, meets on the voyage out Mona, a Palestinian woman who excites in her yearning for a world beyond her horizons. When Joe's closest friend is murdered by Egyptian terrorists, their relationship spirals towards tragedy. Through it all, love remains.
Looking back in old age, their daughter Nia follows in their wake to sail the Suez Canal with the aged Mona. Nia has been told her father was a war hero: now she will face a more painful truth.
Stevie Davies
Stevie Davies is a novelist, literary critic, biographer and historian. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of the AcademiGymreig and Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Wales, Swansea. She has twice been longlisted for the Orange Prize, longlisted for the Booker and won the Fawcett Society Book Prize and the Wales Book of the Year (2002).
Read more from Stevie Davies
Into Suez Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Awakening Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Arrest Me, for I Have Run Away Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Into Suez
Related ebooks
7 best short stories by Alice Dunbar-Nelson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Lady Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Outside Wonderland: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pit: A Story of Chicago Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Main Street Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Prince of the Mexican Empire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDesert Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Longest Journey Classroom Edition Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Collected Works of Upton Sinclair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPansies' Revenge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Jungle: “I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Upton Sinclair Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Works of Upton Sinclair: Novels, Social Studies & Health Guides Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFraternity: “They have been speaking to me of an execution” Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Greatest Novels, Social Studies & Health Guides Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMain Street: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMain Street: The Bestseller of 1921 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Autobiography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tragedy of the Korosko Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnder the Lilacs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsErnest Maltravers — Volume 04 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSybille: Life, Love, & Art in the Face of Absolute Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Tame Surrender, A Story of The Chicago Strike Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOther People's Houses: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nemesis: A Novel of the French Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Stories of Eva Luna Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Desert Drama: Being The Tragedy Of The "Korosko" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gun-Brand: Western Adventure Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Desert Drama Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Historical Fiction For You
Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House of Eve Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: Inspiration for the 20th Century Studios Major Motion Picture A Haunting in Venice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden (Original Classic Editions) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invisible Hour: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rules of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Tender Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rebecca Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Yellow Wife: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Island of Sea Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House Is on Fire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Euphoria Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sisters Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Journals of Sacajewea: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Life of Mirielle West: A Haunting Historical Novel Perfect for Book Clubs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Carnegie's Maid: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kitchen House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hang the Moon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Magic Lessons: The Prequel to Practical Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls in the Stilt House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quiet American Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I, Claudius Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Into Suez
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Into Suez by Stevie Davies
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 448
Publication date: March 8th 2010
The year is 1949: Great Britain, victorious but bankrupt after WWII, attempts to reassert itself as an Imperial power by its military presence in the Suez Canal zone. Egypt's struggle against its British occupiers has some implicit truths to tell about the recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. When Israel declares its statehood and drives out the Arab population, Joe, an RAF sergeant, his wife Ailsa and daughter Nia leave Wales for Egypt.
Joe is the everyday working man, in whom racism and misogyny become a sickness. Alisa, an independent, free thinking woman, yearns to explore her new homeland of Egypt. It's here that she meets the exotic Mona, who opens Ailsa's eyes to what lies beyond the horizon. In a world of terrorism and political struggle, her friendship with Mona and an act of murder pitch the happily married couple into tragedy.
Nia, looking back in late middle age, follows in her parents' wake to sail the Suez Canal. On this journey Nia will face difficult life lessons about love and betrayal.
I read that the author was longlisted for the Booker prize and I understand why. She is a great writer, and such a great story teller.
This book is about Ailsa who leaves England with her young daughter Nia to go to Egypt to be with her husband. The troubles start at once at the ship where she meets Mona, an officers wife. They are not supposed to friends because of their husbands ranks. But there is deep friendship and love between them, and even though Ailsa tries to stay away in Egypt in the end she cannot. Egypt that is in turmoil, the Egyptians wants the invaders out, and terrorism and murder is part of the day.
In the middle of this story there is another story, Nia later in life who wants to knwo what really happened in Egypt and she goes back to find out more about her mother and father.
First of all it is so hard to understand why everyone frowned upon Ailsa being friends with Mona, Joe was really horrified. It all had to do with rank, and I find it rather silly but that was life back then. Mona and her husband would have loved to be friends with them. But Joe was a regular soldier and he knew his place. He also didn't liek intellectuals, he had grown up a poor miner in Wales and had little education. He didn't take too kindly to Ailsa reading either.
But I did understand Joe, and he was a great guy, at first. Then came jealousy and doubt and the trouble that was Egypt. I liked Ailsa too, she was strong and she so wanted to knwo more about Egypt all while Joe looked down upon everything there. Racism was clear as day in this book, but it isn't as easy as it looks. Yes the white looked down upon the Egyptians and called them names, but the Egyptians in turn looked down upon the black population and so on.
Politics did have an importance here, it was the last days of the British Empire in Egypt, the Suez Crisis, and it also dealt with Israel-Palestine since Mona was a Palestine refugee. Though here I wished they would have looked more at both sides, it was a bit one sided in one way. When they spoke of the refugee camps they never mentioned the unwillingness of the neighboring countries to take them in. But I shall not go in to politics no, that is one hot topic I do not want to touch, and Davies does make a good job and looking at things from every angle at least once.
This was a good book that had me turning the page and wondering how it all would play out. Since I knew from the start that Joe would die in Egypt and I had a pretty good idea how since the situation was like it was. But then there was the fact that Ailsa was a certain way after she came back to Wales and I wondered why that was so. Nia remembered her mother one way, a way that I could not understand reading the book from Ailsas POV. But it became clear later on.
Then there is the friendship between Ailsa and Mona, am I supposed to see more, or is it my imagination? They like each other so much, they never do anything, but it does feel like there is something more between them. Something that can never be.
I liked this book, I liked to see how it was in Egypt, the politics, the life, the friendship between Mona and Ailsa, normal life was an army wife, the love between husband and wife, and Nia's sharp eye. A well-written book about a heavy topic sometimes. And the eternal question, what happened?
Blodeuedd's Cover Corner: Historical and fiction like
Reason for Reading: Dunno, the publisher sent it to me, I think it has to do with Wales...
Final thoughts: I liked it.