Cinnamon City

Morocco...Marrakech...Casablanca...the very words conjure up exotic smells of spices, visions of Arabian nights and belly dancers, mosaics, arched buildings and sounds of fountains tinkling in courtyards...Cinnamon City evoked all of that before I even opened the book. In fact I think that the cover of the book with its blue and white bowl of lemons set against a cinnamon-coloured sunset over a Middle Eastern skyscape is what attracted me in the first place. I was sold as soon as I opened the front cover to reveal the deep blue inside jacket.

The book is by Miranda Innes who seems to have a penchant for travelling to exotic places, buying property and living there. On a visit to a friend in Marrakech, she and her partner find themselves (unintentionally) buying up a riad with plans to convert it to a small hotel. 

What follows is an account of their adventure to restore the house to its former glory with the help of some very colourful local characters. In spite of going from one crisis to another, they fall under the spell of the city “where passionate music, magic potions and the drama of Africa are cooled by the intuitive genius of Arabic culture.”

I loved her descriptions of the challenges they encountered and the behind-the-scenes view of the old city. I could almost hear the calls of the muezzin. She has a gift with words that places the reader right there within the pink walls, in the mosaic-tiled courtyards and on rooftops, lolling about on cushions listening to haunting music. I could imagine searching for bargains in the souks - everything from jewellery to spices to leather goods, all business done over a glass of mint tea.

Look up Riad Maizie for more. It definitely looks like it should go on my to-do list. 

A very interesting fact that I learned, is that the world’s first university was started by a woman in 859 in Morocco – Al Qarawiyin by Fatima bint Mohammed ben Fehri.


Cinnamon City by Miranda Innes is published by Bantam Press.
Also, by the same author: Getting to Manana published by Transworld Publishers