Monday 3 June 2013

Sipping from the Nile by Jean Naggar


Sipping from the Nile was my first pick from my book jar, which is basically a jar that contains folded up bits of paper with books from your TBR pile written on.  When you feel overwhelmed with choice, you select randomly from the book jar, to take the decision out of your hands (you can see the original idea at Alex in Leeds' blog). All over my half term break, I was extremely indecisive when it came to reading; I kept picking things up, reading a few pages then putting them down again and it was getting annoying! So I decided to take charge of the situation by reading one book from my book jar then moving on to my Classics Club spin pick.

Jean Naggar comes from a wealthy Jewish family who had lived in Cairo for centuries.  The early parts of Sipping from the Nile deal with an extravagant, sheltered childhood, as Jean and her family live comfortably in a large house overlooking the Nile.  Servants take care of her every material need, she is sent to a prestigious English boarding school and the family summer in Europe, away from the stifling Egyptian heat.  The initial chapters are full of Sephardic Jewish rituals and there's an overwhelming sense of a large and close-knit family.  But after the Suez crisis in 1956, when Britain, France and Israel tried to stop the nationalisation of the vital Suez Canal, the atmosphere in Egypt changes for Jean's family.  After surviving the horrors of World War Two, the Jewish Egyptian population comes under threat due to anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish sentiment.  Eventually, Jean's family is forced to leave Egypt after some danger and the world of her childhood vanishes forever.

Sipping from the Nile is a very well written memoir.  Naggar conjures up the atmosphere of upper class childhood perfectly and the love she clearly has for Egypt comes off of every page.  Although the chapters dealing with boarding school and time abroad are also well written, the memoir truly comes to life when Naggar is writing about Egypt and the traditions of her family.  I learned a lot about Sephardic Jews and felt like I was completely immersed in Naggar's world, a feeling that was helped by the photographs scattered through each chapter.  

I must admit that whilst I was reading, I spent a lot of time waiting for the Suez crisis to turn up.  For a book whose by-line is 'my exodus from Egypt', this event doesn't actually occur until quite late in the game, at least two thirds of the way through.  Whilst the initial section dealing with her childhood felt leisurely and a bit over-long, the sections dealing with how it felt to leave Egypt behind could have been explored further.  I appreciated the final chapters where Jean and her own family return to Egypt, but I wanted to know more about the intervening years, more about what it felt like to be unwelcome in your home land.

Sipping from the Nile is a decent, well written memoir about an interesting community.  I enjoyed it, but it didn't set my world on fire.

Source: Personal copy (kindle)
First Published: 2012
Score: 3.5 out of 5

15 comments:

  1. sounds interesting and different! AND I love the idea of the jar!!

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  2. Hi Sam!
    The Suez Crisis is fresh in my mind after finishing my European History course and the dynamics between the world powers is incredibly entertaining. However, I only learned about events from the political point of view. Britain had interests in the Suez Canal, France was an ally, and they couldn't lose it (not yet). Yet something that history class doesn't have, and something that I make up for with historical fiction, is the impact on the people and their day-to-day life. I really want to read this book, and coming from you, a 3.5 still interests me :D

    I love your reviews, as always!
    -Kirthi

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    1. The Suez Canal is interesting, it's part of the end of empire and start of America being boss! If you do read the book, I hope you enjoy it.

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  3. Sounds like an interesting enough book ;) I love that book jar idea SO much! I should make one.

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  4. The book jar is a wonderful idea! Although I imagine I might keep picking until I got the book I really wanted :)

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    1. Haha yes, I had to be really strict with myself! It would be easy to put one slip back and pick another...

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  5. An interesting choice for your first book jar pick, I don't think I've got any memoirs in mine at all. Might have to sneak a couple more pieces of card in there... :)

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    1. I've got a bit of everything in mine but not my whole TBR as there's no way that would fit!

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  6. I love the idea of the book jar! I also like the sound of this memoir. I love all things Egyptian :-)

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  7. I may have to make myself a book jar too. Maybe with just one page worth of books though! (My book list might be thirty pages or so...)

    It sounds like this would have been a perfect read if the balance between her childhood and adulthood had been a bit better. Oh well!

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  8. Great review! I wonder if the author mostly wanted to write about her childhood and added the other stuff to fill out the story!

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  9. I was looking forward to hear what you'd have to say about this book. It's caught my eye and is now going on my TBR list. Also going to try that book jar idea!

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  10. Oh my gosh, I love the idea of a book jar!!! That's such a great idea!

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