| Description |
416 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 381-395) and index. |
| Contents |
Part I 1944-1946: From Italy to England -- Magari -- Two Diamond Rings -- The Box Brownie -- A Hatbox -- Some Books She Brought With Her -- A Bundle of German Marks -- Brogues -- Nasturtium Sandwiches -- Postscript -- Part II 1947: To Egypt -- King Faruq's Bookplate -- The Rankers' Club Bridge Book -- The Cemetery at Rayol -- A Bill of Lading -- Part III 1947-1949: In Cairo -- Malesh -- Early memory i: Hoopoes -- A Record Collection, Early memory ii: Lice -- An Egyptian Cigarette Tin, Early memory iii: Being painted -- The Little Girl in the Picture, Early memory iv: My fairy doll -- A Pocket Dictionary, Early memory v: At the Great Pyramid -- A Powder Compact, Early memory vi: Learning things -- Part IV 1950-1951: Balm in Gilead -- Early memory vii: Being ill -- An Old Map, Early memory viii: 'Tiger' -- A Silver Photograph Frame -- Part V 1952: Revolution -- Early memory ix: The burned-out bookshop -- The Cairo Fire -- Shabti. |
| Summary |
"Esmond and Ilia follows Marina Warner's beautiful, penniless young mother Ilia as she leaves southern Italy in 1945 to travel alone to London. Her husband, an English colonel, is still away in the war in the East as she begins to learn how to be Mrs. Esmond Warner, an Englishwoman. With diamond rings on her fingers and brogues on her feet, Ilia steps fearlessly into the world of cricket and riding. But, without prospect of work in a bleak, war-ravaged England, Esmond remembers the glorious ease of Cairo during his periods of leave from the desert campaign. There, they start a bookshop, a branch of W. H. Smith's. But growing resistance to foreign interests, especially British, erupts in the 1952 uprising, and the Cairo Fire burns the city clean. Evocative and imaginative, at once historical and speculative, this memoir powerfully resurrects the fraught union and unrequited hopes of Warner's parents. Memory intertwines richly with myth, the river Lethe feeling as real as the Nile. Vivid recollections of Cairo swirl with ever-present dreams of a city where Warner's parents, friends, and associates are still restlessly wandering"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Subject |
Warner, Esmond, 1907-1982.
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Warner, Ilia Terzulli.
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British -- Egypt -- Cairo -- Biography.
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Booksellers and bookselling -- Egypt -- Cairo -- Biography.
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Spouses -- Egypt -- Cairo -- Biography.
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Cairo (Egypt) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.
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War brides -- Great Britain -- Biography.
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W.H. Smith & Son -- Employees -- Biography.
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Cairo (Egypt) -- Biography.
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| Added Author |
Herxheimer, Sophie, contributing author.
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| Other Form: |
Online version: Warner, Marina, 1946- Esmond and Ilia New York : New York Review Books, [2021] 9781681376455 (DLC) 2021049775 |
| ISBN |
9781681376448 (pbk.) $19.95 |
|
168137644X (pbk.) $19.95 |
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