Chapter 16 Summary

Amal sleeps poorly the night she reads about St. Catherine's because she remembers meeting Irving in London and having her life changed -- but not improved. She can imagine being with Tareq, except he is married and thinking of doing business with the Israelis. She finds dealing with events one hundred years ago easier than those today.

To get Isabel into the Atelier 'am Ghazzali, Amal says her brother's fiancye is on a march to end the suffering of the women and children of Iraq. In the smoky room Amal's old professor, Ramzi Yusuf, is playing chess with Mahgoub al-Tilmisani. Deena al-'Ulama, teaches mathematics at Cairo University and volunteers for several causes, is correcting proofs. Yusuf wins and turns his attention on the visitors. Amal explains Isabel's millennium project, but Yusuf dismisses it, claiming both he is too old and everything will stay...