For all the high-stakes pre-revolution Cairo politics and the dramatic events, this was a surprisingly intimate read. Ahmed is more Mr Bean than Mr Bond though, so the result is gut-squirmingly embarrassing, endearing, and terrifying by turns.
Extract
Everything he said was prefaced with the phrase, ‘Between you and me,’ which lent even mundane topics an air of intrigue (‘Between you and me, it’s hot today.’). Bringing his face right up to Ahmed’s, he would whisper like a Buddhist sage divulging the secret of walking on water as he told the tale of every person they met in intimate detail.
