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Married to a Bedouin

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Married to a Bedouin

By: Marguerite van Geldermalsen
Narrated by: Cat Gould
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'A fascinating account of life as Bedouin in the late twentieth century' Mary S. Lovell

'This sparkling memoir is a refreshing antidote and a rare window into the legendary hospitality and mysterious customs of the Bedouin Arabs' Publishing News

'"Where you staying?" the Bedouin asked. "Why you not stay with me tonight - in my cave?"'

Thus begins Marguerite van Geldermalsen's story of how a New Zealand-born nurse came to be married to Mohammad Abdallah Othman, a Bedouin souvenir-seller from the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. It was 1978 and she and a friend were travelling through the Middle East when Marguerite met the charismatic Mohammad who convinced her that he was the man for her. She lived with him in a two thousand-year-old cave carved into the red rock of a hillside, became the resident nurse for the tribe that inhabited that historical site and learned to live like the Bedouin: cooking over fires, hauling water on donkeys and drinking sweet black tea. She learned Arabic, converted to Islam and gave birth to three children. Over the years she became as much of a curiosity as the cave-dwellers, with tourists including David Malouf and Frank McCourt encouraging her to tell this, her extraordinary story.©2006 Marguerite van Geldermalsen (P)2006 Hachette Audio UK Women Middle East Feel-Good Heartfelt
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Fascinating account of a life. Made me think of growing up in NZ in the 60s and 70s and how we all dreamt of the exotic and wonderful lands and peoples so far away. This was the dream lived out!
A really engaging story. The reader I was less keen on - sounded like AI to me. No pauses between sentences, and odd pauses in sentences. Curious pronunciation and intonation at times too. I think much of the story and feeling were lost because of it. Narration not storytelling.

Charming and moving story.

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Unfortunately, as much as I like reading/listening to real-life stories, I found this book very boring. The narration was so monotonous it had literally put me to sleep. There was nothing in the book that made me have any emotions. I did not feel joyful, nor did I feel sad. It was an emotionless dialogue. I usually tend to listen to stories like these from the colleagues who I don't care for yet feel rude to ask them not to talk about their lives.
I'd say, even a boring boor read, is never a waste of time, as you learn something new, I just wish it was more interesting.

The most boring book ever

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