by Rosemary Mahoney, 2007, Back Bay Books, Little, Brown and Company

This is a somewhat odd book written, I think, by a somewhat odd woman. Who would want to do what she did? Row down the Nile River by herself in a small fisherman’s skiff? No way!

But, yes, she did it and she describes it beautifully in this book. She befriended or conversed with many native individuals along the way and the conversations are very enlightening. She was particularly interested in the Egyptian and Sudanese views on women, particularly how the men viewed native women versus western women. It is apparently okay to have sex with a western woman but, a Muslim native woman would be shamed and outcast, if not killed, for committing the same acts. She notes the hypocrisy in several of her conversations with male individuals she encounters along her journey.

My only criticism of the book is that it ended so abruptly. At one moment she is rowing down the Nile, fleeing from a pursuer. Then she parks the skiff in the destination city and walks away. I think the book is missing a final chapter where she would offer some final thoughts on her experience and how it affected her after she had a chance to reflect on it. Also, there were very few really exciting things that happened to her, but the great writing and the strange undertaking held my interest.