Sometimes you have to go back to move forward. Gigi returns from the West to Egypt where we glimpse a fascinating insight into her past and women's position in society, set against the backdrop of an ancient civilisation's contemporary political struggles. The other main character is the house, through which all the events are connected. Based on real memoirs this story gives an impression of what it must be like to be a cultural refugee. The Cairo House will whet your appetite to visit Egypt.
The world is peopled with the walking dead. You rarely recognize them; they may stride about in perfect health and, perversely, live to be ninety. The difficulty is pinning the exact moment at which their life is over, years before they are buried. Rarely is that moment a cataclysmic event that others can recognize: a terrible disabling accident, the death of a loved one. More commonly it is an intensely private moment, the moment in which a person gives up hope.
