Rating: 
Summary: This Is One Incredible Novel!
Review: If you are an American born woman of any race, when you finish this book you will kiss the soil on which you were born and thank your God that you were. If you are a male of any race you will understand some of the horrors of being a woman and learn some compassion. I would highly recommend this book to anyone 15 years of age or older. Very well researched. Well written. Gripping story by one very talented author! I highly recommend many of her other books if you've never read her but this one is probably her very best and certainly the one myself and most of my friends remember her by. Barbara Wood is an undiscovered American Treasure!
Rating:
Summary: a beautiful story
Review: it made me cry. i read it a few years ago and i still remember the story pretty well, maybe not the names but definitely how i feel about it. it's a beautifully well written story. you become intimate with the characters and start to care about them. it's as good as bradford's "a woman of substance"
Rating:
Summary: SUPERB!!!
Review: Lets just say I prefered reading than eating or sleeping. I couldnt put it down once I had started reading it. I love the way she combines history with fiction, love and hate, real with unreal... I could read it a thousand times and never get tired.
Rating:
Summary: A compelling Fiction novel
Review: My mother told me this was the best book she ever read and she has literally read thousands. She has even read it twice. This a beatiful novel,as you can tell Babara Wood is a great author.
Rating:
Summary: Barbara Does it Again!
Review: Nobody beats Barbara Wood when it comes to lengthy, historical, romantic novels. This book is no exception- she must have spent years researching Egyptian culture... you feel like you're in the mansion on Virgins of Paradise Avenue, painting kohl on your eyelids with your sisters-in-law while your husband aids the king. You can imagine wearing a heavy veil over your eyes and covering your skin, because as a female culture dictates you must. As a teenager, I loved this book because it helped me imagine what my life would be like in a totally different part of the world. She also weaves in a reference to her novel Green City in the Sun... if you're interested in Jasmines medical work you should consider reading that book as well. This is just a well written book with a honest female perspective... what more could you ask for?
Rating:
Summary: Barbara Does it Again!
Review: Nobody beats Barbara Wood when it comes to lengthy, historical, romantic novels. This book is no exception- she must have spent years researching Egyptian culture... you feel like you're in the mansion on Virgins of Paradise Avenue, painting kohl on your eyelids with your sisters-in-law while your husband aids the king. You can imagine wearing a heavy veil over your eyes and covering your skin, because as a female culture dictates you must. As a teenager, I loved this book because it helped me imagine what my life would be like in a totally different part of the world. She also weaves in a reference to her novel Green City in the Sun... if you're interested in Jasmines medical work you should consider reading that book as well. This is just a well written book with a honest female perspective... what more could you ask for?
Rating: 
Summary: 1,001 nights of dreck...
Review: This book earns it's star solely based on the effort Ms. Wood obviously put into researching Islamic culture and society. That being said, the story and writing never rise above the level of a basic romance novel-complete with contrived coincidences and forbidden love. If that's your cup of tea (and it's not mine-this was a book club selection so I had to read it), then you'll probably love this book. If you're looking for something with a little more substance, keep looking.
Rating:
Summary: Moving and so full of life. A non-stop page turner!
Review: This book was such a wonderful adventure into the struggles and conquests of womens lives in Egypt. A mix of old world and new, Barbara Woods has created a masterpiece. The writing is fluid. You can almost taste the emotions of the characters. After reading this book you can't help but feel a bond between yourself and the characters. A strong recommendation for all, an even stronger recommendation for women. Thank you Barbara for a wonderful adventure.
Rating:
Summary: great book!!!
Review: this is a super read. i enjoy Miss Wood's style.
Rating:
Summary: Simply beautiful!
Review: This novel has become a winter favorite for me. Snowed in on dark winter evenings I love to snuggle up with this book and allow it to take me away to another world.Virgins of Paradise, by Barbara Wood, is an exquisitely painted picture of a Muslim family through five decades of love found and lost, war, royalty, loyalty, family ties broken and mended. Though the ghostly presence of the elder Rasheed floats throughout the story, the rock-solid core of the Rasheed household is really Amira, his wife. She anchors the family with wisdom, her devout beliefs, and her healing herbs. Ibrahim, her son, in comparison, is a weak shell. It is the women in this story who seem to have all the strength, though their society has oppressed them. This a moving and intriguing tale of the evolution of a family through its births, deaths, weddings, and daily life. Wood writes with such rich detail, you can feel all the research she did before writing this novel. She whisks you away to the hot, dusty city of Cairo, its narrow streets crowded with peddlars, beggars, and men thinking of a revolution. The reader will want to know Amira's dark secret, find out what happened to the banished Rasheed family member, see if Nafisa will find love across enemy lines, and follow the lives of Camilla and Yasmina to adulthood. It's winter; it's about time for me to visit with the Rasheeds again.
|
