Among the most interesting and effective techniques Soueif uses in her novel is the incorporation of real events in the body of her fictional account, primarily to add credibility to the story she is narrating.

Parallel to the turmoil in the Middle East and the implicit reference to the unreliability of the politicians involved in the events of the time, the novelist tells the story of Asya's encounter with Saif and later with Gerald, thus commenting on the unreliable characters of both men.

The way. these extraneous political events are inserted into the narrative flow is yet another fascinating technique adopted by Soueif. The novelist's documentary coverage of the war in the Middle East and the journalistic method of incorporating them into the life story of her beautiful heroine is, in fact, quite revolutionary. By adopting this method, Soueif seems to be implicitly referring to the significance of...