First published 2012
Darley arrives in Alexandria as a young writer, drawn into a web of relationships that will reshape his understanding of love and loyalty. He becomes entangled with the magnetic Justine, whose own marriage and affairs create ripples through their circle of friends. The philosophical doctor Balthazar observes and comments on their entanglements, while the artist Clea moves through their world with her own desires and secrets. As World War II approaches and engulfs Egypt, these four souls navigate passion, betrayal, and the shifting loyalties that war brings to their Mediterranean city. Each of the four volumes revisits the same events from different perspectives, revealing new truths about what really happened between them. The dusty streets and cafes of Alexandria become a character themselves, holding the secrets of who loved whom and why those loves succeeded or failed.
Genres: fiction, romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Alexandria, Egypt, Mediterranean
Period: World War II
884 pages · ebook · Open Road Media