Lion Eyes
by Claire Berlinski
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Description
Of Claire Berlinski's marvelous debut novel, Loose Lips - a perfect blend of satire, romance, and suspense featuring a young female CIA operative - book critic Frank Bascombe observed: "It's more than a little obvious that protagonist] Selena Keller is Claire Berlinski." Despite her assertions to the contrary, Berlinski isn't above poking fun at that notion. In Lion Eyes, a fictional Claire - the author of a novel about love among young CIA trainees - is unsuccessfully dodging a deadly Paris show more heat wave and her even deadlier ex-boyfriend. When she receives an e-mail from an Iranian admirer who wonders how to obtain a copy of Loose Lips in his native city of Esfahan, Claire wastes no time in replying. Her correspondence with the mysterious stranger, Arsalan - whose name means "the Lion" in Persian - quickly becomes personal, then intimate...then obsessive. As Claire heads to Istanbul to find relief from the heat, her electronic flirtation with Arsalan begins, inevitably, to consume her. The boundary between reality and imagination blurs and then disappears. The Lion, meanwhile, is nurturing his own powerful fantasies about the author. To satisfy their growing passion, they agree to meet, back in Paris, but Claire soon learns that someone is secretly intercepting their communications. Suddenly, Claire's romantic dreams start to dissolve. As events take an unimagined, even dangerous turn, and as life begins menacingly to imitate art, Claire discovers that the Lion is not who she thinks he is. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
The unappealing title almost put me off, but I am glad it didn't as this was a surpisingly good read. Protaganist shares the author's name and has also written a spy novel called "Loose Lips". Living in Paris, working on a novel, she becomes obsessed with her email relationship with an Iranian archaelogist. Or is he? She swaps arpartments with a friend of his in Istanbul. Here is where the author's pen shines - her descriptions of Istanbul are full of signs and sounds and smells and you feel the full force of the wonder and confusion of this city full of ethnicities and history. The story of her relationship with Arsalan is almost a side issue and the ending is a bit flat but oddly realistic.
Funniest book I've read in a long time--the author sets up her characters one by one, then stages a dinner party to end all dinner parties. Should not be missed.
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Author Information
9+ Works 410 Members
Claire Berlinski holds a doctorate in international relations from Balliol College at Oxford University. She is a contributing editor of City Journal and Ricochet, and her work has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Weekly Standard, and National Review. She is the author of two show more works of fiction, Loose Lips and Lion Eyes, and one other work of nonfiction, Menace in Europe. She lives in Istanbul. show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Lion Eyes
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 69
- Popularity
- 452,372
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 1
