I flew through _The Map of Love_ and it was challenging to keep track of the several main characters, but I really liked this book! It relates the story of Anna, a British woman who travels to Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century and her family at the end of the century. Two woman, Amal and Isabel, meet in the late 1990s to pore over a trunk of Anna's letters, journals, and belongings and gradually piece together the story of her family, her falling in love, and her growing ties to Egypt and it's political future. Anna's story alternates with that of Amal and Isabel and how they cope with love and Egyptian politics 100 years later.

There are a lot of introspective scenes where we get to know the complexity of Anna and Amal especially. I learned a lot about modern Egyptian history. The author worked in some Arabic lessons and I recognized some of the idiomatic expressions, too.

Highly recommended!