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| Dreamers of the Day: A Novel | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 23 reviews)
Sales Rank: 230714
Category: Book
Author: Mary Doria Russell
Publisher: Random House
Studio: Random House
Manufacturer: Random House
Label: Random House
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1400064716
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781400064717
ASIN: 1400064716
Publication Date: March 11, 2008
Release Date: March 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
?I suppose I ought to warn you at the outset that my present circumstances are puzzling, even to me. Nevertheless, I am sure of this much: My little story has become your history. You won?t really understand your times until you understand mine.?
So begins the account of Agnes Shanklin, the charmingly diffident narrator of Mary Doria Russell?s compelling new novel, Dreamers of the Day. And what is Miss Shanklin?s ?little story?? Nothing less than the creation of the modern Middle East at the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference, where Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Lady Gertrude Bell met to decide the fate of the Arab world?and of our own.
A forty-year-old schoolteacher from Ohio still reeling from the tragedies of the Great War and the influenza epidemic, Agnes has come into a modest inheritance that allows her to take the trip of a lifetime to Egypt and the Holy Land. Arriving at the Semiramis Hotel just as the Peace Conference convenes, Agnes, with her plainspoken American opinions?and a small, noisy dachshund named Rosie?enters into the company of the historic luminaries who will, in the space of a few days at a hotel in Cairo, invent the nations of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.
Neither a pawn nor a participant at the conference, Agnes is ostensibly insignificant, and that makes her a welcome sounding board for Churchill, Lawrence, and Bell. It also makes her unexpectedly attractive to the charismatic German spy Karl Weilbacher. As Agnes observes the tumultuous inner workings of nation-building, she is drawn more and more deeply into geopolitical intrigue and toward a personal awakening.
With prose as graceful and effortless as a seductive float down the Nile, Mary Doria Russell illuminates the long, rich history of the Middle East with a story that brilliantly elucidates today?s headlines. As enlightening as it is entertaining, Dreamers of the Day is a memorable, passionate, gorgeously written novel.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
Dreamers of the Day December 5, 2008
This is a novel regarding the division of the Middle East after Turkey lost her empire to England and France as spoils to World War I. The novel is narrated by a school teacher from Ohio who happens to stumble into Lawrence of Arabia, Miss Gertrude Bell, and Winston Churchill while on vacation in Cairo, Egypt. They and a German-Jewish spy named Karl Weilbacher confide in her, using her as a sounding board. In fact, Karl Weilbacher uses her to get information to send on to Berlin. She falls in love with Karl and he repays her for the information she supplies by taking her on a romantic cruise up the Nile River. This is the third book by Mary Doria Russell that I have read and I believe this to be the best of the three. Hopefully this is a sign of maturing skill.
 Another Great Read from Mary Doria Russell November 22, 2008
Once again Mary Doria Russell beautifully blends unlike things to create a fascinating experience for the reader. Those of us who have read Mary's other books knew she could do it. An author who moves our minds, hearts and souls by sending a Jesuit to outer space has a lively mind.
Dreamers of the Day blends historical fiction with travelogue with the love of dashchunds. No common author could do this. Other reviewers here have commented that the metaphysical ending did not end well. I disagree. The ending of the book is what it needs to be and, as such, delighted me. How can one "drink of the Nile" and not include the metaphysical?
The relevance of the creation of the middle east as we know it today is both timely and important. Mary is an astounding researcher. Even while lavishing in her gorgous prose and human sensitivity, even while understanding that I am reading a lush novel, I can trust that Mary has her facts straight.
A marvelous read. And I suspect a spot of portrait of the enigmatic Thomas Edward Lawrence.
Delightful and creative historical novel November 17, 2008
Agnes Shanklin has led a life dictated by her mother, that of a spinster teacher who has always lived in a small midwestern town. Even after her mother's death, Agnes hears her words dictating what course of action she should take. When her family dies of influenza, Agnes decides to take a trip to Egypt, where her beloved sister lived. While she is there, her life changes dramatically as the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference is taking place, and she finds herself among powerful and famous people such as Lawrence of Arabia and Winston Churchill. Mary Doria Russell steeps us in the history of the time and describes the far-reaching events which occurred when the conference participants re-arranged the map of the Middle East and created the country of Iraq, among others. She also shows us the growth and development of her delightful heroine, Agnes Shanklin, and the philosophy she developed while being close to the current events of her day. This book encourages me to read others by this author.
Dreamers of the Day August 31, 2008
Another unbelievable reading experience! Mary Doria Russell continues to astound the reader with incredibly personal experiences with her characters and settings. Dreamers of the Day permits the reader a fictional view into a time and place little discussed--1921 in Egypt--with a very current theme--the Middle East and Arab peoples. With every one of her novels, she leaves me breathless for more...more of the characters, more of the story, more of the culture. And yet, rather than succomb to the series, she thrills us with variety in her stories. Futuristic or historical, I know that when I open to the first page, I will be enthralled until the last word.
A Little Less Would Have Made This a Perfect Book August 13, 2008
If I had stopped on p. 234, this would have been a
wonderful book! I was thoroughly involved with the
characters and the situations, and I thought everything
had been resolved beautifully. This author is truly
a superb writer, but she lost me with the final twist.
It's the story of Agnes Shanklin, schoolteacher, and
how she grows and changes through the years. I loved
reading about her life and the lives of those around
her. The characters were all so believable, even though
I know it's a work of fiction. Mary Doria Russell is
a most gifted writer....I would have rated it a five
star...but the ending ruined it for me.
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