This was an unnecessary book. I found the author to be very pretentious with his name dropping and the main character was truly unnecessary.

Although we find ourselves shuttered in the solitary world of Aaylia and her books, the sounds and smells of Beruit become manifest through the windows and breezes, the rain and the streets. While reading I felt as one of the 'witches' did, small and inadequate because I am unfamiliar with so many of the authors and composers referenced. I am admittedly surprised such a tender, fragile inner life of a character was imagined by a man, it's even more surprising to find Alameddine was an engineer-two stereotypes for one shattered. I've highlighted so many vivid phrases and names of authors and composers mentioned in this book...I expect to be busy for a while.

Our book group found this book to be beautifully written. Prose as poetry was what one member described it as. Those who struggled with the book had anticipated something more plot driven and were thrown off with waiting for 'something' to happen and had difficulty following because the narrative was not linear. Others liked that it gave you a view of one woman's inner world and how deeply the character was developed. All said at some point they were amazed and even felt a little inadequate by the breadth of knowledge the author had on world literary canon. On that note, anyone who likes ''books about books'' will enjoy this.

This was an outstanding read ~ so glad it was one of our picks.

Some in my group found the book sad-but overall-I was truly inspired by this woman. I loved reading about someone in another culture and while she may not have been valued/important in her culture-she was a woman of substance.