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xi Acknowledgments Thank you to all those who helped in this project directly or indirectly: to Michael Beard, whose friendship is one of the best gifts I got out of writing , and to Adnan Haydar, for his support and encouragement. Thank you to all the readers who brighten my days with their e-mails and to all the critics who perhaps never met me but love my work nevertheless. My thanks to D. J. Whyte for her wonderful editorial work, and to the staff at Syracuse University Press, who have both efficiency and a taste for literature. The cover designer, Lynn Hoppel, captured the essence of the work, and so did the others on the team, including Lisa Kuerbis, Marcia Hough, and Kay Steinmetz. Thank you to Shahla Suleiman, a precious friend I was lucky and proud to acquire after she read this novel. I extend my gratitude to the Egyptian author Gamal Al-Ghitany, whose vision and work open realms of discovery into the Egyptian identity and who was the first to publish my work in his literary magazine; to the acclaimed critic Dr. Salah Fadl, whose style captures the essence of life and who took the initiative in reviewing my first novel; and to Mary Selden Evans, a woman who impressed me on many levels and whose support helped immensely in this project. Such women create and maintain history. ...

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