I enjoyed this book and you should too. Set in Cairo during WWII, everybody is looking for somebody before the war arrives in the city. ( )

I won this book from Goodreads First Reads giveaways.

Set in Cairo during the height of WWII, City of the Sun tells the story of a down on his luck reporter in 1941 Egypt and the woman he falls in love with. But not only is this novel a love story, it has espionage, a race against time between the Germans and the Americans and some of the most interesting and illuminating historical facts regarding Jews in Egypt.

Overall I liked the book. It had a good plot and Ms. Maio's prose was rich and descriptive. The focus of the novel was the search for the elusive scientist Eric Blumenthal with the romance between Mickey and Maya intertwined into the plot.

The relationship between the two protagonist is nothing spectacular and comes off half hearted. The espionage portion of the novel also was flat and not capitalized upon. There was never any buildup of tension and suspense. Where the author excelled was in her historical facts regarding Egyptian and Jewish relations, culture and daily life in Egypt as well as in the descriptions of Cairo itself (which evoked images of Casablanca!). I could not get enough of those sections.

If you pick this book up, read it for its' historical elements, that truly was the best part. ( )

I wanted to like this book, I really did. It has an intriguing premise and an exotic locale. Unfortunately, it suffers from the author's complete inability to write believable dialog or exposition without awkward infodumping. I was unable to persist past the first few chapters. ( )

City of the Sun
By Juliana Maio

When I started this book I was hooked. From a topic I knew little to nothing about, I was introduced to the story of a Jewish family fleeing from the Germans to Cairo, Egypt during WWII.
As a Historical Novel you will meet Sadat, Churchill, Nasser, Hassan elBanna the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood and the young King Farouk among others.
The main characters are a Jewish family that fled to Cairo under an assumed last name and are living with an Egyptian family on their way to Israel.
Erik, the brother, is a known scientist that both the Americans and German want for his bomb skills. Vati,, the father and Maya the sister are the family.
The American Newspaper reporter and repurposed as a spy, falls in love with Maya not knowing who she really is, the sister of the man he is looking for.
Everyone one will enjoy this book for the intrigue, love and history! ( )

This was a wonderful historical fiction novel about life in Egypt during WWII.
In Cairo, journalist Mickey Connelly writes articles no one will publish. The Brits want to throw him out of the country, but he meets Bill Donavan the head of the OSS and becomes a spy for the OSS and must find a Jewish scientist, the Americans need him to help build a bomb to end the war. He first meets the sister Maya and not knowing who she is pursues her and falls in love. How will it all end? Read City of the Sun to find out.
This was a well developed suspenseful and well developed characters, I loved it.
Thanks to Net Galley and Greenleaf Book Group. ( )