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Title: A fantastic idea, poorly executed
Review: What a great idea for a novel - take two interesting, connected periods of tumult in Egyptian history, and compare them using a sweeping family saga of journals and personal relationships. Sounds interesting, right? The whole thing comes across as an unwieldly mess, unfortunately. I found myself trying really hard not to skip the "modern" passages, as they are the least interesting - and I am one who always reads cover to cover. The journals are probably the best (italics), as they are more focused and limited in scope. There are better books out there.
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