Three tales of love and death

the long version

"A lush portrayal of aristocratic life permeates Out el Kouloub's rendering of the harem and life in the Egyptian countryside. The author vividly spins the stories of Nazira, Zahira, and Zariffa into narratives that reflect an insider's perspective. In Three Tales of Love and Death, she offers the rest of the world a glimpse of the "veiled" culture which was her own and with which the translator is intimately acquainted.". "Out el Kouloub's stories, sensitively interpreted by oral historian and writer Nayra Atiya in this "ornamented translation," are depictions of Egyptians of different classes and upbringing. They bring to light manners, customs, folklore, and the marriage of complex cultures.". "Streets, bazaars, holy sites, homes, verdant fields, arid deserts all come alive as author and translator weave an intimate, sensual picture of Egyptian city and country life where passions end in tragedy or resignation."--BOOK JACKET.