A lukewarm like. 3.0, not 3.1. A number of themes at work - political history of Sudan and Egypt, as reflected in the storyline of the patriarch; culture-peeking (man with two wives, patriarch as absolute ruler, clash of traditional vs modern Africa); family dynamics with their usual soap opera type baggage; early dawning of the emergence of women's rights. So many threads, but none really strongly developed. The writing is serviceable but not notable - "meets expectations" I guess. Too much on the side of chick-lit instead of world-lit. An easy read though.