Rating: 
Summary: A Book to be savored
Review: I came across A Map of Love quite by accident. I knew nothing of the author and found myself totally entranced from the first paragraph. The first chapters were a little confusing until I was able to sort out who were the characters and who was the narrator. I found the writing style to be crystal clear and as smoothly flowing as a gentle streams luring you into its embrace. It is the story of a young English widow who goes to Egypt at the turn of the century and there meets the love of her life. The story is recounted by her great niece who at the same time interweaves the story of the family in the 1990's. It is skilfully done. Egyptian politics both at the turn of the century and today create an interesting and enlightning backdrop for the stories giving the reader an view not normally found in todays current events. I not only enjoyed the book but heartily recommend it, not only as a great love story but as an insightinto the private life of an Egyptian family.
Rating: 
Summary: The modern history of Egypt in 500 pages
Review: This is my second book by Ms. Soueif. The first was "In The Eye of The Sun" which I found a bit hard to read. "The Map of Love" is better written and on the whole the story is more enjoyable. Even though I have to admit I found it a bit confusing at the beginning to be reading two stories going in parallel. However, when one got the hang of it the book became really nice to read.This is a journey through time taking us back to the last years of the nineteenth century with all the turbulences that a country under British occupation was going through. Then the writer gradually and smoothly takes the reader on wings of a wonderfully written novel to a present-day Egypt - now an independent state with all sorts of problems of a modern cosmopolitan country. On the whole this is an enjoyable book quite worthy of its Booker Prize nomination.
Rating:
Summary: The Map of Love
Review: Not at all the usual type of book which I would go for. Purchased through the internet on a good book list. I found this book an absolute must for arab horse enthusiasts such as myself, it gave you the complete feel of the region and it's people, with names such as the Blunts occuring frequently placing the reader right there at the start of the arab horse in Britain. This book to me hit exactly the right note between historical fact and fiction making it a compulsive read that I neither wanted to rush nor put down. Will definately be kept in the bookcase for the future.
Rating:
Summary: The modern history of Egypt in 500 pages
Review: This is my second book by Ms. Soueif. The first was "In The Eye of The Sun" which I found a bit hard to read. "The Map of Love" is better written and on the whole the story is more enjoyable. Even though I have to admit I found it a bit confusing at the beginning to be reading two stories going in parallel. However, when one got the hang of it the book became really nice to read. This is a journey through time taking us back to the last years of the nineteenth century with all the turbulences that a country under British occupation was going through. Then the writer gradually and smoothly takes the reader on wings of a wonderfully written novel to a present-day Egypt - now an independent state with all sorts of problems of a modern cosmopolitan country. On the whole this is an enjoyable book quite worthy of its Booker Prize nomination.
Rating:
Summary: superb historical novel
Review: What many of the previous reviews do not mention is that this novel gives a superb corrective to the idea that feminism in Muslim countries is an import from European cultures. I was astounded to learn that there was a strong movement in Egypt for women's rights from 1900-1919. Soueif's novel provked me to some further research, and I discovered that everything she says is true. Soueif did a remarkable amount of research for this novel, including 19th-century travel journals of both men and women and newspaper archives in Egyptian and British libraries
I sympathize with the reader who found the use of (transliterated) Arabic words difficult, but I myself found this technique delightful. I felt I was learning something of Egyptian culture as I learned bits of its language.
One other thing I found remarkable was the balance shown by Soueif in criticizing imperialistic and repressive governments no matter where they occur. If she has a political passion, it is for real democracy, and she therefore critiques post-colonial Egyptian government as much as she critiques 19th-century British colonialism and contemporary American foreign policy. She is not a nationalist but an internationalist in the best sense of the word: she wants every country to have the right to blend its culture with elements from other cultures -- but she wants each country to be able to choose those elements independently and not to have them imposed from without.
Rating:
Summary: Good love story with authentic politics
Review: Soueif pulls you so deeply into the characters' world that you want to reach out and take the hands of the lovers... and you're almost startled--and overwhelmingly disappointed--when you cannot. I had difficulty putting this novel down and yearned to continue reading long after I had finished the last page.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: I notice a previous reviewer has dismissed this book as anti-western propoganda. What nonsense! This book held me spellbound, taught me things, and made me want to find out more. If you're offended by Moslems being presented as rational human beings, then perhaps this book is not for you. But if you love a well-written, multi-layered story which enlightens and entertains, AND is a decent size, so you can really immerse yourself, it would be difficult to find a better book than this.
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