Black Tulips: When gender is their adversary

Black Tulips is the story of four Egyptian women who although they come from very diverse social and economic backgrounds, they face a common adversary–a male dominant society. Sherine Radwan, the first appointed prime minister in Egypt, faces challenges not only from a corrupt cabinet but from her husband as well. Rashida Algammal, Sherine’s housekeeper and confidant, abandoned by her husband has found emotional solace in her secret love for Sherine’s husband Adam. Sherine’s daughter Nadine and Rashida’s niece Layal become two more victims of a patriarchal culture and are united by destiny in a different but welcoming land. The lives of the four women unfold in a backdrop of a political thriller that takes the reader from the Nile and the deserts of Egypt to the treacherous snow capped mountains of Afghanistan, the terrorist training camps of Pakistan, and the American capital. Corruption, deceit, devotion, love and revenge drive the characters of this novel to a memorable journey of survival and liberation. Culturally informative, trendsetting, provocative, and taboo shattering, this story is an ode to human and, especially, women’s equality.