Welcome to Litsy!

This book eventually won me over, hard. It's an #OwnVoices story about Nadia, a queer Palestinian-Canadian woman who travels to Egypt to track down her father whom she has not seen in years. She finds and gets to know him anew, but she also falls in love with an Egyptian woman artist, Manal. The story is set in Cairo, a character unto itself. Beautiful, thoughtful, nuanced writing about art, family, Palestinian and Egyptian cultures and politics.

"Then Manal's lips were on hers, lightly, like a corner of fabric that had been flapping in the wind but now was finally settled...
'Nadia, is it true?' Manal's voice was soft, tentative.
'Is what true?'
'Did I kidnap you and make you mine?'"

#QueerBooks #BisexualBooks #LGBTQBooks #LGBTQ

Nadia is a Canadian of European & Palestinian heritage who ditches her Québécois boyfriend to reconnect with her father in Cairo. She ends up romantically entangled with an Egyptian woman. I got frustrated with Nadia‘s weakness—her inability to make decisions & her reluctance to be honest with herself and her loved ones—yet her story has stuck with me, days after finishing the novel. The setting is also evocative. #CanadianAuthor #LGBTQ #bisexual

After the cold nights, rains, and floods in the Muqattam hills, springtime in Cairo burst forth like a noisy crowd streaming out of a mosque. The scent of jasmine and lilies perfumed the air as the great spring festival of Sham el Nessim got underway.

“Come.” She made room for her in the narrow bed, her entire body exploding with desire.
“Nadia. Nadia.”
“Yes?”
“I am going to take you to the most beautiful place in Cairo.”

#lgbtq
(Internet photo of the mosque of Ibn Tulun.)