The Egyptian Wife

In this multicultural romantic thriller based in modern Egypt, a small town American girl from Kansas beats long odds to achieve the life of her dreams. Then the fractures begin to appear, and her reality begins to fall apart. She struggles to pull herself out of a terrible crash, to overcome her fear that her husband has been systematically lying to her, that the man she falls in love with is a covert criminal, that the world renowned institution that she works for is trying to deceive her, and that her new family is trying to keep her a prisoner in her home. As she labors to recapture her dream world, her work, her first real love, and her self-esteem, she begins to understand how the game is played in the powerful circles in modern Cairo. Then, she finally manages to escape and begins to leave behind her role as a powerless pawn. The story opens as DELLA wakes up floating in the reeds at the edge of the river, and drags herself out through the swampy shore and finally to the roadside. She is out cold when a man, NIGEL, and his helper, find her. They put her in their panel van, and continue the drive down to Aswan. Nigel is an archeological journalist who has trouble making ends meet. He believes he is transporting an artifact for GAMAL, who he helps with dating artifacts. He knows this is illegal, but needs the money. When Della wakes up in the Cairo hospital, she is haunted by snippets of memory that she cannot retrieve: something troubling about her husband, SAMEH, and something about a handsome blond man who was looking down at her and helped her somehow. On the way to buy oranges from her campus office in Luxor, she sees a man and knows it is the man in her haunting memory. The man sees her and turns to disappear into the crowded market. Meanwhile, up in Cairo, MERINA, Sameh's mother, is beginning a flirtation with a very handsome and alluring man, who is the same Gamal. We meet a simple FISHERMAN, who is a faithful follower of the Prophet, who has gotten the word that he will be the one chosen to take something important down the river to the sea. Later in the story he will be found dead in the harbor, with a smile on his face. Merina and Gamal are in a terrible accident in Cairo and Omar and Sameh demand that Della accompany the barely alive Merina to Switzerland, to a convalescent home, where she will spend the rest of her life in exile. Omar moves up in the shadow government that is put into place after the Egyptian President is deposed. Sameh begins to take a hand in military activities, to shore up the family business and power, and finds, to his surprise, that he really enjoys the military. He begins to think of ways he could get rid of his father. Baby Oliver is born on May 2nd, with Della believing the Nigel has abandoned her. And then Nigel shows up.