Book Club Review: The Map of Love

I was so excited to read this book...but I think I'll have to give it a mixed review. 
I enjoyed the imagery in this book and the overall storyline...two love stories that entwined with a shared history.  In light of all that is happening in the Middle East currently, I found it fascinating to read of Egypt's history.  And I always enjoy reading books about other cultures and those set in times and places that I haven't read much about.  I also really liked the parts showing the roots and connections of the Arabic words - something I know nothing about but find interesting.  I also liked how the book was divided into sections:  A Beginning, An End of a Beginning, A Beginning of an End, An End - very clever.

However, I got really bogged down in the middle of this book.  I considered not finishing it, but I have such a hard time doing that and I am glad I stuck it out.  I would have enjoyed it a lot more if there had been a bit less political and historical information and more development of the characters.  The back of the book makes it sound like it is about the characters' love stories while it seemed to be more about the political situations.  And I suppose given the nature of the tale, the characters' stories were incomplete without a description of the times they lived in.  The other thing that frustrated me - I didn't discover until I finished it that there was a glossary of terms in the back that would have really helped me. 

Overall, it was an interesting book, but not one I'll ever feel the need to read again.