"Read this novel to grasp the bravery of El Saadawi's activism in Egypt or to learn more about her country than we saw on our TV screens this spring..." The Guardian "The latest from El Saadawi, seamlessly translated by Nowaira, will haunt readers with its beautiful prose and harsh depiction of women's lives in Cairo...The shifting time line will keep readers guessing as to what happens next, and what is real versus imagined." Publishers Weekly "The mistakes of the past may not be such mistakes after all. Zeina tells of a famed Egyptian entertainer in the title, who finds her roots in being abandoned. Her lost mother grows to regret her decision to abandon her daughter. Years later as the revolution in Cairo begins to gain fire, the estranged mother and daughter may find what they've been looking for all this time. A tale of regret written by an Egyptian who understands the loss and challenge that the modern Egyptian faces, Zeina is a top pick, very much recommended for world contemporary fiction collections. The Mid West Book Review