Playing Cards In Cairo : Mint Tea, Tarneeb and Tales of the City

PLAYING CARDS IN CAIRO is a fly-on-the-wall account - like THE BOOKSELLER OF KABUL - of life (for western readers) in a strange and exotic environment.

Hugh Miles lives in Cairo and is engaged to an Egyptian woman.

Twice a week he plays cards with a small group of Arab, Muslim women and through this medium he explores their lives in modern Cairo, the greatest of Arab cities.

It is a secretive, romantic, often deprived but always soulful existence for the women as they struggle with abusive husbands and philandering boyfriends.

The book is a window onto a city - and a way of life - which is at a crucial juncture in its history.

Hugh Miles, who knows the Arab world intimately, is the perfect guide.