Isra looked down and saw a set of tracks made by a man in his bare feet, the shape of the heel and toes distinct where they’d pressed into the fine sand covering the old cobblestones. As he had done since the height of summer when his dreams had brought him to this place, he followed those tracks... [loc. 56]
Isra al-Grayjaab is a Bedouin, happy to roam the Egyptian desert with his herds, encountering family and friends as he travels. But lately, he's been haunted by dreams of a mysterious barefoot man. Perhaps he's simply a mirage, a figment of Isra's longing for a true companion. But perhaps he's real.
Since childhood, Isra's has a friend named Flicker (I found this name a bit jarring), who is a djinn or arafrit. When Isra tells Flicker of his dream, Flicker leads him to an amnesiac beggar sleeping rough in a ruined temple. It is, of course, the man from Isra's dream, and Isra bestows the name Janan -- and an offer of help and support -- on his new acquaintance.
The two quickly become close: but Flicker discovers that Janan is under a curse, and when his true identity is revealed, it's clear that the stakes are higher than Isra could ever have suspected.
As a result of reading and discussing this novel, I became more familiar with the term Orientalism (which I'd blithely assumed referred to exoticisation of Far Eastern cultures, rather than the prioritising of 'Western' over 'Arabic' / Islamic culture). Is Isra's life romanticised? Yes, to some extent: but I don't think it's more romanticised than other depictions of those who turn away from late-stage capitalism. (Compare and contrast various tales of rural British life.) And it's important, in the novel, that Isra's world is so very different to Janan's.
I wasn't wholly convinced by the instant attraction and romantic affinity between the two leads: also, I would have expected a little more unease about a homosexual relationship in that cultural setting. (But both are discreet and not especially bothered by social constraints.) An enjoyable read, though: a sweet romance threatened by a family feud and by ancient, supernatural powers, with a happy ending that doesn't involve too much compromise.
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