This fabulous journey into the magic of the Arab world has been a bestseller in Europe since its first publication. It is the story of the Arab world’s greatest and most popular singer, Umm Kalthum, told through the eyes of the poet Ahmad Rami, who wrote her lyrics and loved her in vain all his life. Spanning five decades in the history of modern Egypt, this passionate tale of love and longing provides a key to understanding the soul, the aspirations and the disappointments of the Arab world. The compelling story of Umm Kalthum and the history of modern Egypt intertwine in a novel that is essential reading for anyone interested in The Middle East.

Sélim Nassib
Sélim Nassib was born in Beirut in 1946 and currently lives in Paris. Throughout the 1980s, during the war in Lebanon, he served as a correspondent for the French newspaper Liberation. He is also well known for his articles appearing in other high-profile periodicals. In 1990, he put an end to his career as journalist and has since dedicated himself full-time to literature. He is the author of The Palestinian Lover (Europa Editions, 2007) and I Loved You for Your Voice (Europa Editions, 2006).

• Oct 25 2006
  Aljadid: The creatively brilliant conversations feel so authentic that one has to remind oneself that this is fiction and not a documentary.
  
• Mar 20 2006
  Words Without Borders: "Om Kalthoum's life is the stuff of legend, and now it is a fine novel. In I Loved You for Your Voice, the Egyptian journalist Selim Nassib presents Om Kalthoum in the voice of Ahmed Rami, the poet who loved her in vain..."
  
• Dec 21 2005
  Kirkus Reviews (starred review): "In rapt, lyrical prose, Paris-based writer and journalist Nassib spins a rhapsodic narrative out of the indissoluble connection between two creative souls inextricably bound by their art."