Cinnamon City

by Miranda Innes

Book Overview

Lyrical and evocative, this is a travel book masquerading as the story of the author’s purchase of a very dilapidated property in Marrakech and her attempts to renovate it. Included is the family... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0552772860
• ISBN13: 9780552772860
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Black Swan Books, Limited
• Length: 409 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Marrakech - a Memoir of Renovation

Miranda Innes' memoir of her renovation in Marrakech is an enjoyable romp through the souks (markets) and streets of Marrakesh. Occasionally I tired of the ceaselessly repetitive tea stops, but if you want an exotic trip, historical commentary and vivid descriptions of clothing, fabrics, details of Muslim decoration and life, this is the book for you. We wonder at times why Innes is putting herself through the pain of redecorating, restructuring this house long distance and the foibles of dealing with a variety of builders, artisans and artists, some of questionable character and ability. But her general good humor throughout saves the book, and the day, in this adventure into one of the world's most complicated societies. Talking with people who have lived with Moroccan families reveals that Innes is definitely an outsider in the Muslim world,a fact which she readily admits,but she points out continuous subtleties of the culture that make Cinnamon City an interesting weave. The magic she records comes from the people of Marrakesh; the book is Extreme Home Makeover meeting the third world.

A gem of a book

Miranda Innes' memoirs of her adventures as a prospective hotelier in Marrakech, Morocco, are full of self-deprecating, wry humour, somewhat reminiscent of Bill Bryson but with a diction all of their own. Even though the amusing (to the reader) series of problems and mishaps does not culminate - as the author seems to suggest several times during the narrative - in an apocalyptic finale, the unfolding events are harrowing enough to raise at least a few hairs. The book is also very well researched - the only factual error I have managed to spot was the statement that the Hebrew name of Isaac was translated into Arabic as Ismail, while it is actually Ishaq (Ismail/Ishmael was the unfortunate brother of Isaac and the ancestor of the Arab race.) Even with this minor mistake, "Cinnamon city" is a gem of a book.