Lulu in Marrakech

What Marrakech is she talking about?

I¿m an American who has lived in Marrakech for nearly 30 years and after reading this book, I¿m wondering what Marrakech the author is talking about? She passes off a mish-mash of foods, traditions, names and clothing from other parts of the Islamic world that have nothing to do with Morocco. There are so many factual errors¿there¿s no Moroccan dish called poulet au poivres rouges no raisins in a pigeon pastilla, and no goats in the trees on the Casablanca road, to name a few¿that I couldn¿t help wondering if the author was going to set her spy story in Marrakech, why on earth didn¿t she take the trouble to get the details right? There are also so many inaccuracies in her descriptions of the relations between Muslims and Christians that it would seem to add even more fuel to the fire of misunderstandings that already exist between us and the Islamic world. If you want to get an authentic look at life in Marrakech as seen by a Western woman, read another book: ¿Zohra¿s Ladder & other Moroccan Tales.¿

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A colossal waste of time

This is a story with an identity crisis. Is it a spy story? Is it a romance? Is a statement about Islam? Is it a portrayal of American naivete abroad? Who knows? The author seems to be everywhere and nowhere at once. She doesn't fully develope any of the characters. It's hard to relate or sympathize with any of them including the main character, Lulu. I know that the CIA has made mistakes in the past, but even they wouldn't hire someone so ignorant and uninformed as Lulu. If anyone wishes to read this book, I recommend not purchasing it, but borrowing it. I read it for my book club and, at the end of our discussion, we decided to donate all our copies to charity. None of us desired to keep it as part of our personal collections.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I liked it

I had not read any of Ms. Johnson's books before. I picked this one up at Barnes and Noble and was unsure about its quality after reading other reviews. I don't know anything about Morocco, but I think the story is less to do with the accuracy of Morocco and more about bringing up questions about how different cultures can learn to appreciate each other. I was very interested in the story and also the outcome. I connected with Lulu and wanted to know how things turned out. I have not read many spy books, but felt this was an interesting twist to a book primarily for women. It includes romance, mystery, and thoughts on politics and multi-culturalism. Check it out!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Lulu of a waste of time!

With such a lovely book jacket and a fun title, I was greatly disappointed by this book. The title character, Lulu, is allegedly a California girl who works for an unnamed division of the US government that does undercover work. Yet Lulu is so inept at undercover, one believes that she could never even play hide and seek as a child! The author is plainly British, as evidenced by her word usage. Lulu speaks words and phrases that no self respecting Californian - or any twentysomething American, for that matter - would ever prounounce. The plot is mostly unbelievable and pointless. Lulu accomplishes nothing and learns even less. I, however, have learned my lesson about being seduced by book jackets and titles.

Lulu was not a lulu

I've read hundreds of books in my lifetime and can honestly say there have been less than 5 that I didn't finish. This almost was one, though. I just couldn't seem to really care about Lulu or any of the other characters and had to force myself to finish the book. I kept thinking it would get better, but it didn't. Pretty much a waste of time.

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