Remarkable!

Picture in the Sand by Peter Blauner              

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amazing piece of writing that brings together a radicalised young Muslim from the US post 911 and the story of his Egyptian Muslim grandfather in Egypt in the 1950’s during Nasser’s rise to power, coinciding with Cecil B. DeMille’s filming of the Ten Commandments.

Alix’s grandfather, Ali Hassan writes to Alix (now Abu Suror meaning ‘father of joy’) about his fate, his journey during those years. How he regained a faith he’d lost, not through radicalisation, but through circumstances that lead from a step away from repudiation of his religion to an acceptance of things. The miracle of love during this time comes slowly. His grandfather had been writing about his life over the years and he was now sharing it with Alix. 

A family drama that has legs and captures a vast array of reasons why people do things, people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time, the power of belief and commitment, the disappointment of being given a cause only to find the empty truths, political expediency, money—all are described.

Grandfather’s time in prison is diabolical and yet must be endured. The coming together of a Jew and Muslim, when what’s demanded by your torturers is a step too far. The scenes with Raymond Garfield in prison, a Jew, were harsh and poignant.

Gripping in its intensity, I was drawn in. I literally felt the sand and heat of Egypt in my nostrils, and shook my head over the making of the movie, the Ten Commandments at a time when the political situation in Egypt was on a knife’s edge.

And Alix? His grandfather’s writings speak to his heart.

A St. Martin's Press ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.