Only in London

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

As a flight from Dubai comes into London's Heathrow, the aircraft hits turbulence and four people from different corners of the Arab world are thrown together- beautiful, lost Lamis, recently divorced from her wealthy Iraqi husband; Nicholas from Sotheby's, an expert on Islamic daggers; louche, noisy Amira, a Moroccan who lives off immoral earnings, and the young transvestite Samir, with a monkey hidden in a basket.
We follow their intertwining lives through one London summer. Amira masquerades as an Arab princess while Samir, now Amira's lodger, spends his days and nights dreaming of blond boys. And Nicholas and Lamis begin a passionate affair. Capturing a unique London from the Edgware Road shawarma houses to Harrods and Queensway, this is a funny, tender and sexy novel that uncovers a special small world at the heart of a big city.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Among the most celebrated contemporary Arab writers, Lebanese-born al-Shaykh (I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops) returns to London in her latest work, a comical but poignant novel that draws multiple distinctions between Arab and British cultures. After the narrative's quirky foursome meet during a turbulent flight from Dubai, their lives slowly intermingle as they seek happiness, companionship, and prosperity with one another. The colorful, cross-dressing Samir moves in with Amira, a Moroccan prostitute posing as an Arab princess. Recently divorced, the young Iraqi Lamis pursues her newfound freedom, albeit ambivalently, and becomes the lover of Nicholas, a Sotheby authority on Islamic artifacts. East-West dissimilarities create the most trouble for Lamis, but the vigor and fortitude with which al-Shaykh endows all four steer them through all the possible perils of cultural clash. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of Oregon Lib. Syst., Eugene (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

A chance meeting of four strangers on a turbulent plane ride from Dubai to London sets the stage for this fourth novel by acclaimed Lebanese author al-Shaykh (Women of Sand and Myrrh; Beirut Blues). Lamis is an Iraqi woman who has just divorced her much older husband, a man she moved to London to wed in an arranged marriage. Amira is a sassy and resourceful prostitute from Morocco, who plies her trade in the upper-class hotels of Mayfair. Samir is a flamboyant gay Lebanese man who is smuggling a monkey into the country for cash. Nicholas is an Englishman working for Sotheby's who travels frequently to Oman and has a fascination with the Arab world. Back in London, their lives become busily intertwined. As Lamis negotiates her independence in a country she wants desperately to feel a part of while also maintaining ties with her adolescent son, who lives with his father she begins an affair with Nicholas, whose love and urge to shelter her begin to threaten her new sense of self. Amira and Samir, meanwhile, form a partnership of their own. He moves in with her and chases good-looking young men, while trying to forget about the reality of his wife and five children back in Beirut; she concocts a scheme of masquerading as an Arab princess to attract a grander clientele. The themes of Eastern and Western identity, love, sex, independence and freedom are deftly woven into the lives of four vivid characters whose antics tumble into comedy as often as into drama. Busy, gossipy and chock-full of unexpected cultural insights, this tale should entertain readers as diverse as the Arab expatriates it depicts. (Oct. 9) Forecast: Al-Shaykh should pick up more U.S. readers with this confident, entertaining novel. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Four people meet on a plane returning from Dubai. Lamis, a recently divorced Iraqi who has lived in London for several years, returns to a forbidden life away from her ex-husband, her oppressive ex-mother-in-law, and her son. Amira is a Moroccan prostitute who knows the ways of London's Arab society, centered on Edgware Road. Gay and flamboyant Samir has been tricked into smuggling a monkey to London for dubious causes, and Nicholas, an Englishman employed by Sotheby's, is an expert in Arabic and eastern antiquities. Their lives continue intertwined after their taxi home, as Amira continues her exploits, Samir moves in with her (and tirelessly chases men), and Nicholas and Lamis pursue an impassioned affair. Amid a rich Arabic culture in London, the members of the unlikely foursome pursue various degrees of assimilation into London life proper. Al-Shaykh shows the brutal and tender sides of the novel's cultural context as he fills it with funny, touching, and gripping characters whom those acquainted with the world city that is London would recognize. --Michael Spinella

Kirkus Book Review

In this fifth work of fiction from the Lebanese-born author of, most notably, Women of Sand and Myrrh (1992), four travelers arrive in London from Dubai and pair off in combinations that embody conventional (and, for all their surface oddity, rather predictable) cultural contrasts. The liveliest passages involve Samir, a hypersensitive transvestite who has unwittingly transported contraband. But al-Shaykh doesn't do much with the initially promising other figures of a devious prostitute, a glamorous opium dealer, and a randy Sotheby's weapons expert. Frothier and more fun than this author's typical fiction, but it doesn't dig deep, and doesn't linger in the memory.