Lisa Bahrawy

In the Shadow of the Sphinx Lisa Bahrawy

Set against the dramatic events of the 1952 bloodless Egyptian revolution and the Suez crisis, In the Shadow of the Sphinx traces Laura's ten year quest to find a home in Egypt. A young German woman still bruised by the horrors of World War II, Laura finds love with an Egyptian physician, Mounir, in London. A year after their marriage, Mounir decides to return to his country. Though surprised by her husband's unexpected resolve, Laura has no misgivings to follow the man she loves so deeply to a place about which she knows so little. Caught in a kaleidoscope of new sights, sounds, and emotions, Laura struggles to find a niche in a culture very different from her own, a land where foreigners-after centuries of imperialistic rule-are an increasingly unwelcome presence. While Laura's often stubborn behavior offends traditional-minded Egyptians, she learns in time to bridge the gap between the two opposing cultures. When a decade later Laura and her family depart from Egypt to seek a more stable future in a faraway land, she does not leave without sorrow and regret.