The Twelve Rooms of the Nile
A captivating debut that imagines a passionate friendship between Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert when they were exploring the Nile in 1849.
Before she became the nineteenth-century's heroine, before he had written a word of Madame Bovary, Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert traveled up the Nile at the same time. In reality, they never met. But in The Twelve Rooms of the Nile, they ignite a friendship marked by intelligence, humour, and a ravishing tenderness that will alter both their destinies.
On the surface, Nightingale and Flaubert have little in common. She is a woman with radical ideas about society and God, naive in the ways of men. He is a notorious womanizer, involved with innumerable prostitutes. But both are at painful crossroads in their lives and burn with unfulfilled ambition. In Shomer's deft hands, the two unlikely soulmates come together to share their darkest torments and fervent hopes. Brimming with adventure and the sparkling sensibilities of the two travellers, this mesmerizing debut novel offers a luminous combination of gorgeous prose and wild imagination, all of it coloured by the opulent tapestry of mid-nineteenth century Egypt.
'A tour de force of twenty-first century storytelling' Gillian Gill, author of Nightingales
'Immensely satisfying ... deftly imagined' Susanna Moore, author of The Big Girls
'The Twelve Rooms of the Nile promises ... heat and mud aplenty in an atmospheric imagining of the friendship that grew between Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert on their 1849 Nile journey' - Sunday Telegraph
Before she became the nineteenth-century's heroine, before he had written a word of Madame Bovary, Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert traveled up the Nile at the same time. In reality, they never met. But in The Twelve Rooms of the Nile, they ignite a friendship marked by intelligence, humour, and a ravishing tenderness that will alter both their destinies.
On the surface, Nightingale and Flaubert have little in common. She is a woman with radical ideas about society and God, naive in the ways of men. He is a notorious womanizer, involved with innumerable prostitutes. But both are at painful crossroads in their lives and burn with unfulfilled ambition. In Shomer's deft hands, the two unlikely soulmates come together to share their darkest torments and fervent hopes. Brimming with adventure and the sparkling sensibilities of the two travellers, this mesmerizing debut novel offers a luminous combination of gorgeous prose and wild imagination, all of it coloured by the opulent tapestry of mid-nineteenth century Egypt.
'A tour de force of twenty-first century storytelling' Gillian Gill, author of Nightingales
'Immensely satisfying ... deftly imagined' Susanna Moore, author of The Big Girls
'The Twelve Rooms of the Nile promises ... heat and mud aplenty in an atmospheric imagining of the friendship that grew between Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert on their 1849 Nile journey' - Sunday Telegraph
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Book details:
- Simon & Schuster UK |
- 400 pages |
- ISBN 9780857207807 |
- August 2012
£6.99 List Price
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Praise
“Let’s talk about the imagery first. Let’s choose one word: magnificent. This is the Nile; this is Egypt; this is desert sun and camel rhythms, Harem seduction and ‘spavined mules.’ This is what Shomer does best.”
– The Chicago Tribune
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“Let’s talk about the imagery first. Let’s choose one word: magnificent. This is the Nile; this is Egypt; this is desert sun and camel rhythms, Harem seduction and ‘spavined mules.’ This is what Shomer does best.”– The Chicago Tribune
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“A mesmerizing new work of historical fiction. . . .The Twelve Rooms of the Nile...ribald and sometimes explicitly sexual, is a fascinating travel back in time”– The Miami Herald
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“Shomer’s exquisite debut is an intellectual adventure. . . . The superb characterizations, poignant observation on the Egyptian religion, and depictions of the land’s ethereal beauty--all perfectly interwoven--are rendered in memorable language that excites and enriches the mind.”– Sarah Johnson, Booklist (starred review)
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“The meeting in 1850 of Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert in Egypt, an unlikely but immensely satisfying confluence, is deftly imagined in this brilliant book. The louche Flaubert and the sober Miss Nightingale are fitting representations of ourselves as life’s travelers--alternately lazy and alert, sensuous and restrained, complacent and curious.”– Susanna Moore, author of The Big Girls
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“I could not imagine it: Gustave Flaubert and Florence Nightingale as friends, almost as lovers! Step by step, detail by detail, Shomer constructs the story of how a man and a woman with nothing in common but genius, one French, one English, one steeped in cynicism, one drowning in despair, could meet on the Nile in 1850, talk, write, hold hands, and see into each other’s souls. As brilliantly sensual as it is finely psychological, this novel is a tour de force of twenty-first century storytelling.”– Gillian Gill, author of Nightingales
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“With the voice of a poet and a keen eye for time, place, and character, Enid Shomer tells of the imagined intersection of two famous lives -- and the communion of two unlikely souls -- on the crossroads of the Nile. Beautifully written, touchingly rendered.”– Alan Brennert, author of Moloka'i
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“Poetic . . . Enid Shomer's debut novel begins where historical documentation leaves off, imagining a strong friendship between the lost, pre-Madame Bovary Flaubert and the earnest 29-year-old Nightingale searching for a purpose.”– USA Today
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“Tender and marvelously imagined.”– NPR, The Best Historical Fiction of 2012
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Book Reviews
Reading Group Guide
This reading group guide for The Twelve Rooms of the Nile includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Enid Shomer. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
Before she became the nineteenth-century’s heroine, before he had written a word of Madame Bovary, Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert traveled up the Nile at the same time. In the imaginative leap taken by Enid Shomer’s The Twelve Rooms of the Nile, the two ignite a passionate friendship marked by intelligence, humor, and ravishing tenderness that will alter both their destinies.
In 1850, both are at crossroads in their lives and burn with unfulfilled ambition. To her family’s chagrin, and in spite of her wealth, charm, and beauty, Florence is, at twenty-nine and of her own volition, well on her way to spinsterhood. She yearns to be of use in the world. Traumatized by the deaths of his father and sister, and plagued by mysterious seizures, Flaubert has dropped out of law school and commenced on a first novel, an effort promptly deemed unpublishable by his closest friends. At twenty-eight, he is an unproven writer with a failing body. In Enid Shomer’s deft hands, see more
Introduction
Before she became the nineteenth-century’s heroine, before he had written a word of Madame Bovary, Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert traveled up the Nile at the same time. In the imaginative leap taken by Enid Shomer’s The Twelve Rooms of the Nile, the two ignite a passionate friendship marked by intelligence, humor, and ravishing tenderness that will alter both their destinies.
In 1850, both are at crossroads in their lives and burn with unfulfilled ambition. To her family’s chagrin, and in spite of her wealth, charm, and beauty, Florence is, at twenty-nine and of her own volition, well on her way to spinsterhood. She yearns to be of use in the world. Traumatized by the deaths of his father and sister, and plagued by mysterious seizures, Flaubert has dropped out of law school and commenced on a first novel, an effort promptly deemed unpublishable by his closest friends. At twenty-eight, he is an unproven writer with a failing body. In Enid Shomer’s deft hands, see more
