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Dreamers of the Day: A Novel
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Dreamers of the Day: A Novel
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Dreamers of the Day: A Novel
Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

Dreamers of the Day: A Novel

Written by Mary Doria Russell

Narrated by Ann Marie Lee

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

"I suppose I ought to warn you at the outset that my present circumstances are puzzling, even to me. Nevertheless, I am sure of this much: My little story has become your history. You won't really understand your times until you understand mine."

So begins the account of Agnes Shanklin, the charmingly diffident narrator of Mary Doria Russell's compelling new novel, Dreamers of the Day. And what is Miss Shanklin's "little story?" Nothing less than the creation of the modern Middle East at the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, where Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Lady Gertrude Bell met to decide the fate of the Arab world-and of our own.
A forty-year-old schoolteacher from Ohio still reeling from the tragedies of the Great War and the influenza epidemic, Agnes has come into a modest inheritance that allows her to take the trip of a lifetime to Egypt and the Holy Land. Arriving at the Semiramis Hotel just as the Peace Conference convenes, Agnes, with her plainspoken American opinions-and a small, noisy dachshund named Rosie-enters into the company of the historic luminaries who will, in the space of a few days at a hotel in Cairo, invent the nations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.
Neither a pawn nor a participant at the conference, Agnes is ostensibly insignificant, and that makes her a welcome sounding board for Churchill, Lawrence, and Bell. It also makes her unexpectedly attractive to the charismatic German spy Karl Weilbacher. As Agnes observes the tumultuous inner workings of nation-building, she is drawn more and more deeply into geopolitical intrigue and toward a personal awakening.
With prose as graceful and effortless as a seductive float down the Nile, Mary Doria Russell illuminates the long, rich history of the Middle East with a story that brilliantly elucidates today's headlines. As enlightening as it is entertaining, Dreamers of the Day is a memorable, passionate, gorgeously written novel.

From the Hardcover edition.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 11, 2008
ISBN9780739358405
Unavailable
Dreamers of the Day: A Novel
Author

Mary Doria Russell

Mary Doria Russell is the author of five previous books, The Sparrow, Children of God, A Thread of Grace, Dreamers of the Day, and Doc, all critically acclaimed commercial successes. Dr. Russell holds a PhD in biological anthropology. She lives in Lyndhurst, Ohio.

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Reviews for Dreamers of the Day

Rating: 3.662309328104575 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Agnes is living in Cleveland when her whole family is killed by the 1918 influenza pandemic. Having narrowly survived the flu herself and in serious need of a change of scenery, Agnes travels to Egypt on vacation, against the imagined protests of her deceased mother. There she meets such luminaries as T.E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill, and Gertrude Bell. It's a neat little slice of the time around WWI without suffering from the Forrest Gump effect (that is, Agnes's actions don't have huge, unsung effects on history). Unfortunately, the story kind of falls apart once Agnes leaves Egypt. The summary of her life from then on feels rushed, and the whole afterlife thing is just a really strange addition. But up until then, I found the story to be simply charming.A note on the audio: Ann Marie Lee is fantastic. Her "flat midwestern accent" is perfect without sounding like a parody, and her cadence drew me into the story immediately.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I wasn't really sure what to expect when I picked this book up and I'm still not entirely sure what I think about it. As an education on the background history of the middle east conflict it was interesting, assuming that the historical information portrayed in it is accurate. The story itself was a bit weak- I just never found myself caring that much about the narrator. This was perfectly fine when the story was mostly about what was happening in the world -- the narrator mainly served to explain things, give things context and insert the reader into this place in time and space. But when the story was focused on her personal life (all of her self confidence issues and psychological disturbances) it fell flat, for me.

    Ignoring the more personal parts of the story which were, in my opinion, a waste of paper and ink, the historical part of the story had its good and its bad aspects. On the one hand, it was clearly biased. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Every historical book- whether fiction or nonfiction- is biased. At least when the bias is obvious, like in Dreamers of the Day, you don't get suckered into thinking that you've found the one and only truth on the matter. I knew next to nothing about the middle east situation during and after WWI, though I've done a bit of reading on the time period in the states, UK and Russia. For that reason, this book was a good primer. Unfortunately, my lack of prior knowledge means I can't say whether or not this book was at all accurate. I'll have to leave that review to someone better read on the subject.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Enjoyable historical novel set post WWI.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I enjoyed this historical novel. It was full of references I didn't know and inspired me to look up some of the historical figures and learn more about them. I was disappointed with the ending...it was corny!!!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is beautifully written, but it felt to me as though the story was incomplete- less like a novel, and more like a gorgeous snapshot of this brief portion of Agnes' life. I loved how all the people- historical figures and imaginary characters alike- all felt real, with all the graces and foibles that real, everyday, normal people have.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed the first part of the book. Mostly because I knew next to nothing about the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 and I found it fascinating. Her makeover in the department store, the dog and her adventures in Cairo put me off a bit. Wish fulfillment much?Regardless, it was an interesting read, and passed the time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A bookish spinister, after the deaths of her domineering mother, absent brother, and beloved sister, travels to the mideast, and by chance and family acquaintance, meets T.E. Lawrence and is an observer to the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference. Maria Doria Russell writes an absorbing story. Her narrator, Agnes Shanklin, is an intelligent and sympathetic voice, and her retelling of historical period during and directly after World War I is informative. Having Agnes tell her story from the grave, though, while at first an interesting narrative device, turns to the fantastic at the end of the book, and diminishes the strength and realism of the story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An engaging story of a woman finding herself post WWI Egypt. She is the only family member to survive the 1918 flu epidemic. After inheriting all of her family's resources the spinster schoolteacher takes a cruise with her Dachshund to Egypt where she meets Churchill and Lawrence of Arabia. As the world realigns itself ahead of the next war, she finds herself embroiled in the politics and adventure of the Middle East - and finds her own life and way forward. Lawrence tells her that those "who dream by night wake in the day to find that it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Agnes learns to be a dreamer of of the day, as well - seemingly insignificant among the great players of the world she makes her mark and learns to make her dreams possible. The characters are well developed and as always Russell's narration makes for compelling reading.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Well, I love Ms. Russell's writing, and this novel is no exception. It reads true to life, backing her claim of extensive research. At 40 her protagonist, Agnes Shanklin, an unmarried schoolteacher, looses her mother and siblings to the flu pandemic rife in the world at the end of the Great War. With her lose comes an inheritance that allows her a real vacation to Egypt. The vacation turns her life around. While most Americans then didn't see much beyond their immediate surroundings, Agnes sees a world she hadn't dreamed of. Not to tell too much, but her adventure includes hobnobbing with important politicians of the day, witnessing the creation of the modern Middle East and the modern day problems to come. Unusual and captivating, the story is not to be missed.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have read most of the authors novels,with one to go, and found this to be the least enjoyable. The authors writes exceptionally well - very descriptive and easy to follow. I thought the plot and premise of the book were weak and very contrived. This book was far to fanciful and "flighty" for my taste. It lacked direction and purpose. If one is interested in a good read on what was happening in the Middle East after WWI read "Desert Queen".
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    kind of a mary sue goes to the middle east at historic times. the historical fiction part of it felt right - true enough and her enough on the periphery.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Mary Doria Russell is one of my favorite authors. Still, this novel didn't quite make it for me. Some interesting historical fiction, but, a little too preachy and 'teachy'. It is an easy quick read and fairly enjoyable.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Agnes Shankin and her faithful dog Rosie embark on a trip to Egypt to leave behind all the sadness caused her family by the influenze epidemic. There she falls into the middle of the meetings leading to the creation of the Middle East as we know it. Very interesting book, filled with history and travel told in a very unique and entertaining way.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is beautifully written, but it felt to me as though the story was incomplete- less like a novel, and more like a gorgeous snapshot of this brief portion of Agnes' life. I loved how all the people- historical figures and imaginary characters alike- all felt real, with all the graces and foibles that real, everyday, normal people have.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    DREAMERS OF THE DAY is the second Mary Doria Russell book I've read and it was a most enjoyable read. (The first was DOC - an emphatic 5 stars.) Russell has a way of inventing characters you can easily identify with, or at least I can. And Agnes Shanklin is no exception. A forty-ish spinster schoolteacher from Cleveland whose whole family was wiped out by the Influenza epidemic of 1918, Agnes had lived under her mother's thumb for her whole life. Finally free of all family constraints and left with a sizeable inheritance, she slips her shackles of conventionality and books a vacation cruise to Cairo, an experience which changes her whole life. Her stay there is set against the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, where Winston Churchill and his international contemporaries were reapportioning the Mideast following the cataclysm of WWI. In fact, Agnes's story gives you a bird's eye view of how Iraq became a country.Because Churchill, Gertrude Bell and T.E. Lawrence (i.e. "Lawrence of Arabia") were just a few of those titular 'dreamers' of their day. And all three, as well as a few other historical figures, become characters in Russell's tale. Lawrence in particular is a prominent figure, as a friend of Agnes's younger sister (now deceased) from before the war. Russell's descriptions of Lawrence brought back Peter O'Toole's magnificent film portrayal of the man. But the most interesting figure here is one wholly fictional, in the person of Karl Weilbacher, who, we learn almost immediately, is an intelligence agent for the German government. Agnes is immediately smitten by Karl, but also finds Lawrence fascinating. Since Karl and Lawrence have an adversarial relationship going back to before the war, a certain dramatic tension prevails throughout Agnes's Egypt adventure. There are layers of story here: Agnes's emergence from her old self to a new life (and she has an endearing little dachshund who's always there, for dog lover readers); the politics and intrigue of the Peace Conference with a multitude of historical figures; and an anti-war theme emerges, as Russell examines the history of intertribal and religious wars in the Mideast which continue right up to the current troubles in Iraq, a country which was created as a political compromise by Churchill, Lawrence, Bell and others. An implicit message here is that, despite the best efforts of many, there will always be war. Or, as Agnes remarks to Lawrence -"And who knows what comes next? ... One thing about the Middle East seems certain: another army is always waiting, just around the bend."Russell also informs us that foreigners and unbelievers will never succeed in these Muslim countries because the natives are masters of 'ketman' - the art of fakery - and then there is the Shi'a concept of 'takkiya' - religious permission to lie when dealing with infidels.DREAMERS OF THE DAY is a curiously topical book for today, given recent U.S. and British involvement in Iraq and the Mideast. I found it to be not only an absorbing story, but also an informative and even educational reading experience. Learning new things can often be tedious and boring. Not so here. Great story, wonderful, colorful characters and terrific writing. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Interesting and informative but too contrived for me. The ending especially.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a fast read, and not just because I'm a Mary Doria Russell fan.

    While not as strong as her earlier efforts - I'm thinking of [book: The Sparrow] and [book: Children of God] here - this was still a good read that held my attention throughout. The research is meticulous, and there's a helpful afterward to explain where & why she deviated from recorded facts (which isn't often, actually). Her use of language continues to charm me.

    It's not a happy book, but it is a satisfying one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A lot of fun and a timely reminder of our culpability in modern day troubles - but lighter weight than previous effort A Thread of Grace.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was in the mood to read some historical fiction or non-fiction from about the time of WWI. I found "Dreamers of the Day" to be a rather charming book, and quite enjoyable. I started reading the first couple pages and instead of doing the chores I should be doing I was instead settling in on the patio with book in hand and enjoying this story. The narrator, one Agnes Shanklin, is dead and gone, but she decides to tell us the tale of her life and the rather interesting and unexpected turn it took. This novel is a historical fiction, the type where we witness history by way of a more or less ordinary person interacting with famous people and events. The famous event here is the Cairo Peace Conference of 1921, and the famous personalities include Winston Churchill, Gertrude Bell and Lawrence of Arabia. The book is more than that though - it is a snapshot of turbulent tmes, dealing with the aftermath of WWI and the flu pandemic that took many more lives than the great war. It is also part travelogue, when Agnes travels to Egypt and we go with her. What it primarily is, and what I enjoyed most in the book was the journey of self-discovery for Agnes. This was so well done that I had to remind myself I was reading a piece of fiction, especially when I came to the photograph. When Lawrence steps off the stage of the novel towards the end I realized what an important part he had played in my enjoyment of the book (which was in contrast to my initial reaction to his appearance in the story). Overall I enjoyed the book and consider it a better than average read, although the ending dampened my enthusiasm for the book a little. Recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my all time favorite books. This follows a woman's whole life, all her ups and downs, and her final triumph. Realistic descriptions, realistic feelings
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Dreamers of the day is not Mary Doria Russell's best book.Told in first person by the protagonist, Agnes Shanklin, this historical novel is set in the first half of the twentieth century.I enjoyed the first three quarters more than the end. Getting to know Agnes, her naive parents who go bankrupt, thus becoming her work-himself-into-a-grave father & overbearing mother, as well as her brother and sister sets the stage for experiencing the shock of World War I and the influenza epidemic of 1918. These events leave Agnes a changed woman. Russell does a great job of getting Agnes' voice down, with assistance on the audio from Ann Marie Lee.In the 2nd half of the book, after she's picked up the pieces of her life, Agnes decides to take a trip to Egypt, where she just happens to run into a friend of her sister's, T.E. Lawrence (yes, Lawrence of Arabia), who is in town for what we know as the Cairo conference of 1921, which determined the political boundaries for former Ottoman territories in the Middle East that had been awarded to the British at Versailles, particularly splitting Palestine into British Palestine and TransJordan, and creating the country Iraq out of Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish territories.Agnes and her dachshund Rosie also make the acquaintance of a Jewish-German (his self-description) traveler who provides a gentle education in the history and culture of the city she's visiting (and is quite obviously milking her for information on the conference). Gertrude Bell and Winston Churchill make appearances in the story, and Lawrence invites Agnes on a trip to Palestine with the conference attendees in order to take her to visit the place her sister and brother-in-law lived.All of this was well-done, if a little too-ingenious. It was the ending that didn't work for me, as we hear Agnes voice from beyond the grave describing her afterlife in Egypt with commentary from various people on humanity's propensity for war.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mary Doria Russell’s historical fiction is superlative. (See also, A Thread of Grace (2005) about Italian Jewry in WWII, and Doc, 2011, the tubercular Dr. John Henry Holliday and the Earps from a different point of view). I am truly in awe of Russell’s ability to weave historical events and attitudes into a seamless narrative. Class, gender, cultural standards of beauty, sexuality, imperialism, militarism, colonialism: all ingredients in the tastiest stew you’ve ever consumed. Agnes Shanklin, a 40-year-old spinster schoolteacher from Cleveland, has enough money for the trip of her dreams – Egypt and the Holy Land. Arriving in Cairo with participants in the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, she is a witness to the creation of the Mideast as we know it today. Historical personages like Gertrude Bell, Churchill, and Lawrence of Arabia are drawn in all their feet-of-clay glory. Cairo of the 1920’s is a wonderful, dangerous place, where Agnes finds her strength as a woman and a person. A romantic liaison, a makeover, and a bit of spying on the side all combine to bring Agnes into her own power. Don’t miss this.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Lively historical fiction set in Egypt after WWI.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An educational romp through the pages of history, Dreamer's of the Day follows a schoolteacher as she brushes elbows with Lawrence of Arabia and Winston Churchill at the Cairo Conference of 1921. Agnes Shanklin leads a life some would call tragic. Bowing to the whims of her mother she becomes a schoolteacher. Then her mother, sister, and the rest of her family succumb to Influenza--leaving Agnes all alone, except for her dachshund. Needing to escape her grief, Agnes decides to use her money to take a trip--to Egypt. Arriving with her new wardrobe and with her dachshund in tow she embarks upon an adventure that puts her in the middle of all the dignitaries at the Cairo Conference of 1921--you know, the one that caused the creation of Iraq? Much enjoyable mayhem ensues, as well as an examination of the human condition and the impact of the decisions of a few on history. I enjoyed learning more about a forgotten aspect of history as I followed a character who gave me plenty of emotional involvement as I followed her ups and downs. I definitely recommend this if you love historical fiction, or if you enjoy books that have highly enjoyable characters. It made for a great book club pick, with lively discussion at our meeting. And it destroyed any romantic notion I have of ever enjoying a camel ride.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Shimmering. That’s the image in my mind of ‘Dreamers of the Day’ by Mary Doria Russell. ‘Shimmering’ may describe Egypt’s sun over the desert, or the opulence of Cairo’s Semiramis Hotel. Shimmering definitely describes the fabric of Agnes Shanklin’s narrative. Shaking off the shackles with which her mother had bound her, Agnes, schoolteacher from Ohio, boldly books a Cook’s Tour of Egypt. Her mother, through her disparaging spirit, follows Agnes, pricking almost every action with sharp barbs. Fortunately, the evolving Agnes also receives encouragement from Mildred, the department store clerk and from new friends and acquaintances, Lawrence (T. E.), Gertrude Bell, Winston Churchill, and others. Russell researched personal papers of Lawrence, Churchill, Bell and others and integrated their actual comments so artfully, that I needed an occasional reminder that I was reading fiction. The nearest I’ve been to Egypt was the Pharaohs/King Tut exhibit at the Minnesota Science Museum. Yet such observations Agnes made, as with constant changes in government, maps and ruling nations, each adding its own personal touch to the culture of the Middle East, that when I viewed the King Tut artifacts at the museum and noted that additions and alterations were also made by one pharaoh upon another’s buckle, statuary, and canopic cache, my appreciation for Russell’s research and writing grew.‘Dreamers of the Day’ truly did lift me to another place in time and reverie. I highly recommend this book. Sh/July 2011
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm a huge admirer of Mary Doria Russell, but I found this novel to be very disappointing. It is one of those historical fiction novels where an ordinary person (a spinster from Ohio) meets famous historical figures (T.H. Lawrence, Winston Churchill, and Gertrude Bell) and watches major historical events unfold (the creation of Middle Eastern countries after WWI). This is, unfortunately, a very contrived and unconvincing way of writing historical fiction. The impulses behind the novel are apparent: Russell was interested in the way European countries carved up the Middle East after WWI, and how the countries arbitrarily created at the Cairo Peace Conference led to the current conflicts in the Middle East. She was also fascinated by the character of T.H. Lawrence, but found him enigmatic enough of a character that she needed to portray him through an outsider's eyes. I am also interested in these topics, but I didn't think the book treated them with the depth and insight that I would expect from Russell.The novel was rather unfocused: Russell couldn't seem to decide whether the story was about a woman from Ohio traveling in foreign countries and dealing with her own past, about T.H. Lawrence, or about Middle Eastern politics. Consequently, all of the plotlines are rather weak. There is also a weak metaphor drawn between the main character's relationship with her mother and Middle Eastern countries' relationship with Europe, but the metaphor is poorly developed and lacks insight.Perhaps Russell ran into the same frustration that strikes anyone who researches the history of the Middle East in the twentieth century: it is such a depressing and tangled mess that it is hard to say anything concrete or coherent about it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The title Dreamers of the Day comes from the writing of TE Lawrence: "Those who dream by night wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." The story is about the events in the life of Agnes Shanklin a 40 year old schoolteacher spinster living near Cleveland Ohio. The major events in the novel take place following WWI and the influenza outbreak, during the roaring 20s. Agnes loses her mother, uncle, sister, brother-in-law and nephews to influenza leaving her alone with a bit of money and her faithful, loving Dachshund Rosie. Agnes finds herself lost without her family and not sure what to do with the rest of her life. On impulse she books a trip to Egypt and the Holy Land mostly because she knew how much her mother would have hated her going. Agnes finds herself staying in Cairo during the Cairo Peace Conference of 1921 and befriends such important figures in history as T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), Winston Churchill and Lady Gertrude Bell. Through Agnes’s eyes readers get to witness some of the major events during this time period and we gain an excellent impression of the major historical figures involved. In the end Agnes goes back to her home to anticipate giving talks about her travels.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell follows the events in the life of Agnes Shanklin a 40 year old schoolteacher spinster living near Cleveland Ohio. The major events in the novel take place following WWI and the influenza outbreak, during the roaring 20s. Agnes loses her mother, uncle, sister, brother-in-law and nephews to influenza leaving her alone with a bit of money and her faithful, loving Dachshund Rosie. Agnes finds herself lost without her family and not sure what to do with the rest of her life. On impulse she books a trip to Egypt and the Holy Land mostly because she knew how much her mother would have hated her going. Agnes finds herself staying in Cairo during the Cairo Peace Conference of 1921 and befriends such important figures in history as T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), Winston Churchill and Lady Gertrude Bell. Through Agnes’s eyes readers get to witness some of the major events during this time period and we gain an excellent impression of the major historical figures involved. I really enjoy Mary Doria Russell’s novels The Sparrow and Children of God. This series still remains today to be one of my favorite and I still find myself thinking about these books even though I read those years ago. I was looking forward to reading Dreamers of the Day for some time now even though I knew that it was going to be a bit different and on a different subject matter than The Sparrow and Children of God. For the most part I really enjoyed this book even though it was completely different than I had expected. I think the strongest aspect of this book is the amount of history and details the author provides to readers. I’m not very familiar with all of the details of the Cairo Peace Conference and found the information in this book to be very interesting and to show to readers how events in history tend to repeat over and over. Also, the descriptions of Cairo during the time Agnes is there are very detailed and I found I was able to picture myself alongside her as she was traveling Cairo and the Middle East. Similarly, I have heard mention of Lawrence of Arabia but I don’t know a lot about him and I found the information in this book about his life and how he acted through the observations of Agnes to be very interesting and have me looking into other books and biographies about him. On the other hand, the weakest aspect of the book is probably Agnes story, the novel is told through her eyes as she looks back on her life but at times I wasn’t very interested in her story, and the ending is rather strange and doesn’t really flow well with the rest of the book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The title Dreamers of the Day comes from the writing of TE Lawrence: "Those who dream by night wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." It is these dedicated dreamers with whom a schoolteacher named Agnes Shanklin ends up socializing at the 1921 Cairo Conference. Having had very little excitement in her life up to this point, Agnes takes a trip to the Middle East that unfolds rather like a coming of age story as she finds her confidence in travel. But at the same time that Agnes is working through personal growth, she is also witness to the birth of the modern Middle East - determined largely by British diplomats and little to no input by actual Middle Eastern politicians. Agnes (in-credibly) befriends Winston Churchill, Lawrence of Arabia, and Gertrude Bell as they hash out the boundaries and governance of the Middle East in the post-WWI era.But Agnes's perspective was uninformed and uninteresting, sadly. There's a wealth of fascinating history with an impact we still see in present day politics unfolding in the narrative, and Mary Doria Russell can bring humanity and believability to any character or historical figure. But the narrative gets caught between Agnes's own story and the story of the Conference, and unfortunately the impact of both are mutually dulled by ceding space and depth to each other. Agnes is a well-drawn character and I liked her personally, but her limited perspective couldn't adequately convey the long-reaching significance of Middle Eastern history and politics that the book promises.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    hmm, a fast curious read. Poignant in a nostalgic, naive, way.