Picture in the Sand by Peter Blauner
Stacey Irving • February 9, 2023
My favorite read of 2023 so far
I finished reading Picture in the sand by Peter Blauner and here is my review.
Alex has it all. The family, an Ivy league college acceptance but after a misunderstanding with the FBI, a misunderstanding that was racially motivated, Alex feels disenchanted with the Egyptian-American dream and suddenly disappears from his home leaving a note behind. He has run off to become part of a holy war…. A war his grandfather knows more about than he lets on.
Alex, refusing all contact with his family, does answer an email from his grandfather and in it, his grandfather weaves the story of his own life and what led up to him living in America. A story of a young man with a dream of working in motion pictures and it all starts on the set of the Ten commandments…. During a time in Egypt where the people revolted against their King but a new dictator took the reins instead…
A story so compelling and dangerous that spans 50 years yet the story is eerily similar.
I finished this book a few weeks ago and I got the worst writer's block ever. I don’t usually not have the words to write a review but this book left me speechless. The writing was so hypnotically beautiful that I read the whole thing in one sitting. I loved how the story was told from the grandfather's perspective and Alex came through via the emails he sent to his grandfather.
Alex literally left because he felt America had disrespected his family and that the reason for it was because they tried to assimilate to a place that would never accept them. He gets himself into a situation he can’t understand and doesn’t fully appreciate the trouble he is in but his grandfather sharing his story helps him immensely.
The story made me cry so hard at the end. I felt truly invested in Ali during his time in Egypt as a young man and the tale he weaves of meeting Mona and landing a job on a real movie set in hopes that one day, he can move to the land where dreams come true. Egypt is in upheaval and Ali spends his time trying to navigate his precarious position between the Americas filming and the Egyptian activists that want to take their country back by any means necessary. You can truly feel his fear for his grandson for getting himself into the predicament he is in.
Loved the descriptions of Egypt but I am biased because I am a lover of Cairo and one day I will make it back there again. The connection between the two men was tangible and raw which I found so enchanting and relatable.
This book ticked every box for me and it is definitely a book I would reread again one day.
5 stars. If you are looking for an intergenerational book then look no further because it really will hit you in places you didn’t know you had.
Thank you St Martin's Press for sending me my review copy!
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