This novel is so beautifully written. Yasmine El Rashidi (native, herself, to Cairo) begins the story right after Sadat's assassination, before Mubarak took office, then down through events which eventually led to the takeover of the Islamic Brotherhood. I remember hearing about this back in 2011, but didn't fully understand what what going on since I hadn't learned about the history preceding the event. So this novel was extremely illuminating for me in that sense (along with really making the me feel grateful for American freedom). That being said, to learn the history that goes on in the book....I would have googled it first to supplement the historical context.
The book is told from the perspective of a young girl (unnamed) growing up and coming of age in Egypt through this (current) historical time for the country. Since it is pretty much her thoughts that are told to the reader as the narration, it is a little vague at times, but also gives more emphasis to her feelings in response to things happening around her, which I really appreciated.
My favorite part of the book was the fact that the novel started off with the narrator as a young child and El Rashidi wrote it to actually be read like you are reading the consciousness of a little girl living in Cairo. Then, as the story unfolded, the summers pass, and the narrator grows older, and the narration gradually gets more complex. I loved that! Yasmine El Rashidi is an extremely talented author.
I received a copy of Chronicle of a Last Summer through Bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review.