Hints and tips:
...I managed to convince a signwriter on the outskirts of the Marrakesh medina to paint him....
...By piling one horror story on top of another so relentlessly, Gilbert paints a misleading picture of the life of Isaac in the house of Ishmael. The reality was far more complex....
...Islam was for the Arabs, the sons of Ishmael, as Judaism was for the descendants of Isaac and Christianity for the followers of Jesus....
...The prologue records the return journey to his hotel across the Medina, guided by a barefooted Berber, of the book’s central character, an American writer called John Stenham; he is pretty contemptuous...
...And for someone used to the bustle of Arab medinas, Jaffa is far too quiet. You do wonder where the Arabs live now. In fact, signs of Israel’s conflict with the Arab world are everywhere....
International Edition