Meant to read a Zola next, but got a bit hooked by no.352. This is much more of a stand- alone novel, centering mainly on Mountolive, a British diplomat, who does indeed fall in love with Leila, the mother of Nessim and Narouz, whose family are Coptic Christians not Moslem Arabs, as I had thought (this I think matters although my ignorance of Middle Eastern history and politics didn’t help me follow the plot here).
The whole narrative becomes woven with deceptions – I am not now sure that Balthazar was telling the truth about Justine’s love for Pursewarden; the latter is in fact a British diplomat, who convinces Mountolive that Nessim is not plotting against the government and, in some way therefore, the British.
However a drunken night with Melissa convinces him to the contrary, Pursewarden kills himself in consequence, and Mountolive leaves Egypt a failure and uncertain whether Leila ever really loved him.
Meanwhile Nessim arranges for his brother to take the blame for the plotting and Narouz is murdered, still calling for Clea as he dies.
The plot point I am missing centres in some way on Palestine, the hatred the Coptic Christians have for the British and French, who they think have sided with the Moslems. Justine is Jewish which I am sure is relevant, but I am not sure how.
I will re-read Clea before using Google to disentangle all this; I am sure someone else has!
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