![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() There is a shifting POV that creates uneasiness to her story, that puts you offbalance when you read about her love affair with an Iraqi exile professor or when you listen to her uncle talk about the journey of her grandmother to find her missing so, the man who sells himself as a slave and then pretends to drown by throwing himself off the boat mid-sea and is stolen by a mermaid before he comes to the USA.Īnd it is also the tale of longing, love, and loss for a country, for an identity, as the cafe where Sirine works is mainly populated by emigres and students from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt– all the colors and flavors of what being an Arab might mean as they are irresistably drawn to the food and memories she creates. Her tale is redolent with sumac, garlic, thyme and spotted olive oil and currants. Sirine is a chef in a Middle Eastern restaurant in LA, the orphaned child of Red Cross worker parents killed in Africa, raised by an Iraqi uncle amongst poetry, literature, and fairy-tale like stories of family and possibly Omar Sharif. ![]()
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