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A Rapture of Ravens
« Older EntriesThe Muslim Brotherhood & The Cairo Codex-Summary
Saturday, August 12th, 2017
When I was a child, my mother told me that she was reincarnated from an Egyptian. Later, I taught Egyptian history. Then, in 1989, an invitation came to live and work in Egypt as a State Department Envoy—my dream assignment. We lived in the wonderful country from 1989 to 1991, then returned over the next two decades for months at a time. With these experiences, we learned to treasure the country and its people.
From these experiences, the saga and journeys of anthropologist Justine Jenner were born and took form in The Justine Trilogy in the historical novels The Cairo Codex, The Italian Letters and A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos. These novels begin with the lead up to the revolution and end with the election of President Morsi, a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
One cannot engage in such research and writing without being fascinated by the compelling story of a group such as the Brotherhood that began in 1928 to resist British colonization, played a violent role during WWII and the 1952 revolution, influenced Middle Eastern radicalism, rose to prominence and the presidency, then suffered a coup and fell into disgrace and terror.
What a roller coaster ride! The future is difficult to divine.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Want to learn more? Read The Justine Trilogy.
The Italian Letters by Linda Lambert
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The Muslim Brotherhood & The Cairo Codex 9
Monday, August 7th, 2017
For the moment, let’s journey back to the revolution. From A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos: “Justine was gripped by deeply unsettling fears for her lover Amir, his leadership role with the youth of Egypt placing him at great risk of being arrested. The turmoil in the Middle East was unprecedented, clearly, so perhaps none of the old rules applied. This is a new game, in a new world bursting from the ground up, a popular revolution quickened by social media. But then what? She knew that if Mubarak were removed, Egyptians would still have the military and the Brotherhood, since no one else was as organized. Perhaps with Amir’s help, those who led the January 25th revolution would form themselves into a focused political movement. Perhaps.
Justine gripped the blanket more firmly around her chilled body and returned to the kitchen for the last dregs of coffee. On the couch, she curled her stocking feet under her and stared at the screen. Tahrir Square was crowded with thousands of Egyptians chanting, “Down with Mubarak,” arms flailing the air, placards in Arabic demanding the president’s resignation. The crowd throbbed, like a singular heart beating in concert.”
Justine had cautioned herself, be careful what you ask for.
The last essay asked “What now?” Now that the military is back in charge—what changes have we seen? El Sisi and his administration have created two areas of deep concern, with tragic long-term consequences, I fear. First is the suspension of significant civil rights: the right to assemble, rule of law, free speech. These measures, so they say, have been taken in response to the radicalization of the Muslim Brotherhood and random terror. Labeling the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization has dissembled the previously cohesive group. Is it possible for Egypt to normalize random terror?
Flight into Egypt
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The Muslim Brotherhood & The Cairo Codex 7
Monday, July 31st, 2017
In spite of Mubarak’s continued efforts to suppress the Brotherhood, including amending the constitution to ban political parties with a religious foundation, the organization continued to gain power. By 2010, we could detect a mounting “perfect storm,” that is, the increasing agitation of the Brotherhood in response to oppression and frequent imprisonment of members and the plight of Egypt’s youth.
A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos, the third novel in the Justine Trilogy (The Cairo Codex being the first) was set in 2010-2011 and chronicled the launching and immediate aftermath of the 2011 revolution. By April, 2010, clusters of youth in Cairo were planning the uprising. The trigger came with the tragic incident in Tunisia on December 17:
“. . . Tunisia. This morning Mohamed Bouazizi, a 27-year-old shopkeeper in Tunis, set himself on fire after a squabble with a policewoman, onlookers say. More than a hundred witnesses stood in horror as Bouazizi slowly sat down in the 
middle of the road and poured gasoline on himself. He paused only briefly, mumbling inaudibly before he lit the match. No one moved. People stood transfixed, unbelieving. A woman ran from the crowd screaming ‘help him, help him.’ She was later identified as his mother. What would motivate a young man to take his life in this horrible way? What will happen now? Across the world . . . ”
“When we get a million hits on Facebook, we go,” claimed the youthful organizers. The Rapture describes that resolve on January 25, 2011:
“They had no idea what lay ahead, but they had had enough. Enough of unemployment and low wages, living at home until the age of thirty, unable to get a place of their own, a place to bring a wife. Postponing a family, watching their friends rounded up and imprisoned without charges, barely recognizing their bruised faces once they returned to their neighborhoods with flat, unexpressive eyes. But not today. Not today. Today, their eyes filled with resolve, bravery.”
Was this a revolution of Egypt’s youth? A general unrest that gave rise to citizens of all ages? A revolution of the Muslim Brotherhood? The answer is “yes” in all three cases. A perfect storm. It was the Brotherhood members who checked for weapons and handed out water at the perimeter of Tahrir Square on that fateful day.
Tags: Mohamed Bouazizi
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How to Use a Novel as a Guidebook
Thursday, January 19th, 2017
Nicholas Noyes of the NY Times recently wrote a column by that name. He describes the fascinating of following in the footsteps of Oliver Twist–having seen the film as a 5-year-old. An American who grew up in London, he found new eyes as an adult by traveling Oliver’s journey.
My historical novels known as The Justine Trilogy are anchored in real places and times. Whether in Cairo (The Cairo Codex), Italy (The Italian Letters) or Taos (A Rapture of Ravens), each site is real–there for the picking, pleasures to be harvested. Delectable visits into living history. My posts entitled 72 Hours in Cairo (Parts 1-3) take you on that journey. Several posts on Italy and Taos tantalize you, I trust, to journey there.
What is your favorite historical novel? Have you planned that trip as yet? Add it to your bucket list.
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The Justine Trilogy: the movies!
Monday, June 27th, 2016
Imagine a major earthquake in Cairo, anthropologist Justine buried alive, an ancient diary tumbling from the walls of a crypt. These are the promises of a major motion picture based on The Cairo Codex. In The Italian Letters, another ancient crypt
reveals the origin of Italians and the genealogy of the Virgin Mary. In a Rapture of Ravens, an avalanche in Taos, New Mexico, unearths and unravels the migration patterns of the Anasazi. Travel full circle back to the the Egyptian revolution and the faith of Justine’s lover. A gold mine for today’s special effects, these historical novels are unclose and personal with the struggle of today as well…the Muslim Brotherhood, religious conflict, challenging the truths of modern civilization.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Reese Witherspoon–where are you?
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The Thrill of Taos
Friday, June 5th, 2015
Returning to Taos is like returning to a home that never was…meaning that it has always seemed like home, but I didn’t grow up here. However, Morgan and I have spent many, many months here over the past five years—years bringing us into intimate contact with the balmy air that caresses our skin, the full moon rising over the Sangre de Cristo (isn’t there a full moon every night in Taos?), a scattered mosaic of clouds in a big sky over Sacred Mountain, the rich blend of cultures led by the Tiwa of the Taos Pueblo. More than a thousand years of history.
Much has happened in these five years: The D. H. Lawrence Ranch is now open—Kateri Tekakwitha is an authentic Saint—The World Heritage Taos Pueblo and Rancho de Taos Saint Francis Church continue to attract people from all over the world—The Egyptian Revolution took surprising, and not always pleasing, turns—the Taos economy is on the upturn. Tonight, the grandchildren of the original Art Colony founders describe 100 years of creative impulse here. Tomorrow, we hear the story of the 400 years of shared Native-Hispanic-Anglo history. Music is in the air everywhere you turn.
What perspective does time provide? Five years, 100 years, 400 years, a thousand years. A spiral of wisdom that is Taos.
The people of Taos have been so welcoming that the writing of A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos emerged with ease from the minds and hearts of these generous folk. Many of them will gather Friday, June 12th, at 6:30 at the Mabel Dodge Luhan estate for the “world release” party.
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Book Talks-A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos
Tuesday, May 26th, 2015
World release, Mabel Dodge Luhan Conference Center, Taos,
New Mexico, June 12, 6:00
Private release, Santa Fe, New Mexico, June 14, 5:30
Four-Eyed Frog, Gualala, CA, July 4, 4:00
Diesel Books, 5433 College Ave., Oakland, July 9, 6:30
Books, Inc., Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness, San Francisco, July 10, 7:00
Books, Inc., 865 El Camino Real, #74, Palo Alto, July 30, 7:00
Mendocino Book Gallery, August 21, 7:00
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA, August 29, 4:00
Want to know more?? E-mail me at linlambert@mcn.org
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Why Taos?
Monday, May 4th, 2015
Many know that Taos is a magical, historical, and stunning place. But why set the third novel in The Justine Trilogy there? After all, The Cairo Codex is set in Egypt; The Italian Letters in Italy.
Quite simply, D. H. Lawrence is buried in a little white chapel perched on the side of Lobo Mountain just outside of Taos. While he died of tuberculosis in the south of France in 1930, his wife Frieda’s lover brought his ashes back to Taos in 1936. Now, nearly 80 years later, the Ranch—owned by the University of New Mexico and closed for many years, has reopened.
When anthropologist Justine Jenner discovered letters from Lawrence in her great grandmother’s attic in Italy, she was compelled to follow him, to find out who he really was—and to find what he discovered about himself on the side of Lobo Mountain. In exploring the life of her great grandmother’s lover, Justine discovers herself as well.
One week from today, A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos will be released.
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Serendipity – A Writer’s Journey of Discovery
Sunday, April 19th, 2015
It all began when, as a young girl, I hid Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence under my mattress (who didn’t?). Women in Love and other Lawrence novels, short stories, and poems followed, keeping my infatuation deep in my consciousness. But it was not until my husband, Morgan, and I wandered into a bookstore in an Etruscan ruin in Italy in the mid-80’s and discovered Etruscan Places that Lawrence became an obsession. His unforgettable perspective on the Etruscans explained the heretofore unexplainable about these mysterious people.
Years passed. After all, I wasn’t a novelist as yet. I was busy with non-fiction writing –then moving in Egypt. Cairo fully captivated us. Old crypts and earthquakes and religious tensions demanded my attention. It was inside the crypt that had allegedly been home to the Holy Family that the first novel in the Justine Trilogy took form.
After giving birth to The Cairo Codex, I discovered that D. H. Lawrence was still waiting in the wings. But it was not until my protagonist Justine climbed into her grandmother’s attic in Fiesole that I found The Italian Letters. I know this may seem strange, but I didn’t know what she would find until old lace began to rise from a trunk untouched for 80 years.
These letters led me into Taos, New Mexico, and A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos… to be released May 12. My life as a writer has been one serendipitous event after another.
Next week: Why Taos?
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Press Release: A Rapture of Ravens
Saturday, March 21st, 2015
a new historical novel filled with native mysticism, the romance of the high desert, literary intrigue, and echoes of the Egyptian revolution
The third in The Justine Trilogy, this sizzling novel is preceded by the award-winning The Cairo Codex and The Italian Letters. Anthropologist Justine Jenner travels to Taos in search of her great-grandfather, D. H. Lawrence, and her own identity. In Taos, she finds the peoples of the pueblo, archaeologists, Lawrence aficionados, and followers of Kateri, the Indian saint, who draw her into the riveting blend of cultures, including the pursuit of the migration patterns of the peoples of Mesa Verde.
Driven to understand the spirituality Lawrence found at his ranch on Lobo Mountain, Justine uncovers documents and letters in the subterranean tunnels and wild terrain of New Mexico that explain his mysterious journey. Her Egyptian lover joins her at Christmas, 2010, proposes, then returns to Cairo to lead the revolution. After witnessing the beating of Amir in Tahrir Square on television, Justine runs from this truth and is imprisoned by a massive avalanche. The stunning finale engages Justine in a life and death struggle with nature and herself.
The Justine Trilogy follows the quest of Justine into Egypt, Italy and Taos. Exploring bold themes of dominant human desires, fundamentalism, sexual awakening, feminism, and the pressures that lead to revolution, these novels form a spiral of interlocking mysteries and experiences, propelled by Justine’s increasing maturity and proactivity, her insatiable curiosity, and her sensitivities as an anthropologist.
The world release of A Rapture of Ravens: Awakening in Taos will be held June 12, 2015, at the Mabel Dodge Luhan house in Taos, New Mexico.
Tags: Press release
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