My favourite author; but a warning - you will be hungry!, 05 Nov 2008
I have loved all the Annie Hawes novels, and was eagerly awaiting this one. It didn't disappoint - another charming read and can't wait for the next one.

None of the characters from the previous books appear, but the formula is the same - entertaining stories about travel and food in an interesting foreign place - this time North Africa.

As an aside, I brought this to read on a camping holiday in France, and the stories about North African food were so appealing that we cooked couscous and spicy stew three times in our two weeks on the campsite.

Highly recommend Casablanca Cuisine if you fancy having a go at recreating some of the culinary adventures yourself.
Casablanca Cuisine: French North African Cooking

Ho hum..., 26 Oct 2008
I'm a great fan of Annie Hawes but found this book to be very disappointing. The opening section, describing her adolescence and brief imprisonment in Portugal, was riveting but after that it could have been any travel guide to N Africa. The narrative spark was missing and I found it strange after her 3 Italian volumes that her long-time Italian boyfriend merited just a single sentence. What happened to the relationship that she spent so much time in describing in the earlier books? Or did I miss it having given up after one-third out of sheer boredom? Get back to Italy Annie, you do it so well.

A good read - by Rose S Brown, 03 Jun 2008
Thoroughly enjoyable read. I find Annie Hawes impressive in the extreme in that she really knows her subject and her reader! I loved my travels with her but sadly missed the de Giglio family and all her Italian friends. I learned an awful lot about women of Islam and how they cope with the extremes of this religion. Annie presents a book which is humourous and yet holds the dignity of the way of life and customs of the land she travels in.

An intriguing voyage of discovery, 22 Apr 2008
At the age of sixteen Annie Hawes was deported from Portugal and sent home to England. On the way, she was adopted by a family of Algerians heading for Paris, who came from Timimoun in Algeria, a date-farming oasis deep in the Sahara. Years later, when two friends ask her to join them on a trip through Morocco and Algeria, Annie decided to go, and to seek out her old friends from Timimoun; this book is the outcome. Annie Hawes writes in an engaging, confessional style - familiar to fans of her first book Extra Virgin - and her grasp of history and politics, particularly in relation to the Islamic world, is impressive without ever sounding pedantic. She travels close to the ground, describing what she sees with affection and an open mind, but her wry sense of humour allows her to pass judgment in the lightest of ways. When you read this book you enjoy a veritable feast in every way.

A refreshing and very funny read, and a book that will truly inspire you. , 15 Apr 2008
For anyone who would love to escape humdrum rainy Britain for warmth, sunshine and a totally different, unknown culture - but don't quite dare - this is it. Smell the spices, taste the food, live the sun-drenched landscapes and the shady courtyards all the way from the Mediterranean to the Sahara, enjoy the great company of Annie and the wonderful people she meets as she travels all across Morocco and Algeria on a shoestring. Everyone there seems happy to take an unknown wanderer (or three) into their hearts and their homes, right from day one - even if she and her companions don't quite know which is the correct hand to eat with, can't manage to crouch politely on their haunches throughout a whole meal, or follow the intricacies of Ramadan protocol - and don't even realize that a "thousand-star hotel" is a euphemism for sleeping rough under desert skies!
Annie Hawes is honest, affectionate and humourous, and shares with the reader everything she learns as she travels, with never a false note of whimsy or patronage. By the end of the book you feel you have gone through so much with her, so many hilarious or scary moments, so many eye-openers about local life, attitudes, history, traditions - many of them completely contradicting the ideas she (and I) had about life under Islam - that you feel as if you were there yourself, and she is an old friend you've always known. Great book! Buy it.

My favourite author; but a warning - you will be hungry!, 05 Nov 2008
I have loved all the Annie Hawes novels, and was eagerly awaiting this one. It didn't disappoint - another charming read and can't wait for the next one.

None of the characters from the previous books appear, but the formula is the same - entertaining stories about travel and food in an interesting foreign place - this time North Africa.

As an aside, I brought this to read on a camping holiday in France, and the stories about North African food were so appealing that we cooked couscous and spicy stew three times in our two weeks on the campsite.

Highly recommend Casablanca Cuisine if you fancy having a go at recreating some of the culinary adventures yourself.
Casablanca Cuisine: French North African Cooking

Ho hum..., 26 Oct 2008
I'm a great fan of Annie Hawes but found this book to be very disappointing. The opening section, describing her adolescence and brief imprisonment in Portugal, was riveting but after that it could have been any travel guide to N Africa. The narrative spark was missing and I found it strange after her 3 Italian volumes that her long-time Italian boyfriend merited just a single sentence. What happened to the relationship that she spent so much time in describing in the earlier books? Or did I miss it having given up after one-third out of sheer boredom? Get back to Italy Annie, you do it so well.

A good read - by Rose S Brown, 03 Jun 2008
Thoroughly enjoyable read. I find Annie Hawes impressive in the extreme in that she really knows her subject and her reader! I loved my travels with her but sadly missed the de Giglio family and all her Italian friends. I learned an awful lot about women of Islam and how they cope with the extremes of this religion. Annie presents a book which is humourous and yet holds the dignity of the way of life and customs of the land she travels in.

An intriguing voyage of discovery, 22 Apr 2008
At the age of sixteen Annie Hawes was deported from Portugal and sent home to England. On the way, she was adopted by a family of Algerians heading for Paris, who came from Timimoun in Algeria, a date-farming oasis deep in the Sahara. Years later, when two friends ask her to join them on a trip through Morocco and Algeria, Annie decided to go, and to seek out her old friends from Timimoun; this book is the outcome. Annie Hawes writes in an engaging, confessional style - familiar to fans of her first book Extra Virgin - and her grasp of history and politics, particularly in relation to the Islamic world, is impressive without ever sounding pedantic. She travels close to the ground, describing what she sees with affection and an open mind, but her wry sense of humour allows her to pass judgment in the lightest of ways. When you read this book you enjoy a veritable feast in every way.

A refreshing and very funny read, and a book that will truly inspire you. , 15 Apr 2008
For anyone who would love to escape humdrum rainy Britain for warmth, sunshine and a totally different, unknown culture - but don't quite dare - this is it. Smell the spices, taste the food, live the sun-drenched landscapes and the shady courtyards all the way from the Mediterranean to the Sahara, enjoy the great company of Annie and the wonderful people she meets as she travels all across Morocco and Algeria on a shoestring. Everyone there seems happy to take an unknown wanderer (or three) into their hearts and their homes, right from day one - even if she and her companions don't quite know which is the correct hand to eat with, can't manage to crouch politely on their haunches throughout a whole meal, or follow the intricacies of Ramadan protocol - and don't even realize that a "thousand-star hotel" is a euphemism for sleeping rough under desert skies!
Annie Hawes is honest, affectionate and humourous, and shares with the reader everything she learns as she travels, with never a false note of whimsy or patronage. By the end of the book you feel you have gone through so much with her, so many hilarious or scary moments, so many eye-openers about local life, attitudes, history, traditions - many of them completely contradicting the ideas she (and I) had about life under Islam - that you feel as if you were there yourself, and she is an old friend you've always known. Great book! Buy it.


Excellent, 26 Nov 2007
I am planning a trip to Algeria in the next few months and was pleased to see that Lonely planet had at last produced a comprehensive guide to the country. For me it is concise and very readable but better than that I gave it to my Algerian boyfriend who read it from cover to cover. He confirms that the books is interesting and accurate.

The book covers not only tourist trails but the history of the country including the tragic war with France, the food and art. This is the essential book for travel to this part of the world - indeed I believe it is the only book.