Playing Cards In Cairo By Hugh Miles: The Other’s Insight Into The Lives Of Others : Overturning Notions Of Superiority

This work is based on his insights into the world of middle class women in a relatively affluent section of Cairo where he meets Roda’s card playing women friends at her flat. In a culture where it was not easy for an unmarried Egyptian Muslim woman in Cairo to spend time with a foreign man alone or be in a position to invite a foreigner to their house especially a male one, (p.45), the writer is presented with the opportunity to learn about the lives of Egyptian upper middle class educated women at first hand as he drinks mint tea and plays cards (Tarneeb) with them, and listens to their stories of their lives and desires.