2.5 stars.

This book is the story of multiple characters, mainly of Laurie an honest, loyal policeman, and Llucia, a Menorcan landowner.

I have never read something that was set in the intersections of England, Cairo and Menorca.
The concept and the core idea, including the intentions are brilliant.

I do not feel fully qualified to judge if the research made by the author led to the writing of historically accurate plotlines, though, the writer mentions his family history as a starting point, and that is much appreciated. Moreover, the mood and the plot elements read authentic.

I liked 65-70% of the dialogue.
I liked the themes of loyalty, betrayal, love, the incompetence and the evil of those in power.

As for the execution, the characterisation, the underlying wit and the plot itself, I need to read this one more time to do it justice. But, most likely, my overall enjoyment will not change much. Still, this was an interesting read despite the writing style not being my favourite.

Inspired by his grandfather's service as a military policeman in Cairo and by the work of Gertrude Bell in the Arab Bureau Ash James has written a lyrical novel set in the months preceding General Allenby's advance to Jerusalem. Seen through the eyes of Laurie, a country policeman posted to Egypt and his New Zealand colleague Nooney investigate sugar smuggling in Cairo. However, this book is much more ambitious and includes a large swirl of issues from the treatment of women, class prejudice, Egyptian resentment against the minority Coptic christians, Jewish desire to return to their ancestral homeland, imperialism and resulting resentment against the British as well as fighting within the British army. This is also a parallel and connected story focused around a matriarch in Menorca smuggling art and wanting revenge for past wrongs, her son, who is a poet and the importance of love. This is a lot for one book to sustain and I think that James manages it. The plot is
less convincing than the character of Laurie who you are cheering for from the first page to the last.
I enjoyed the novel and will look out for more book by this author. Thanks to Netgallery for an ARC of this book

4.5★s
The Poet Laurie Ate is the first novel by British author, Ash James. Still wondering quite why he enlisted (surely the taunting could have been borne) and sorely missing his family, on his first day in Cairo, by showing a hint of intelligence (he is a policeman, after all), Private Thomas Laurie of the Worcester 6th attracts the unwelcome attention of Captain Hillary.

The epitome of a petty official of whom can be said he was likely born with opportunities that promoted him beyond his talents, Hillary metes out the worst punishment he can, involving latrines. Lesson learned: keep a low profile.

Then, on patrol with amiable New Zealand-born Lance Corporal John Nooney, Laurie is involved in another incident that incurs Hillary’s wrath. But he has also come to the notice of the Colonel running the Arab Bureau of the Cairo Intelligence Department, and she sees this “dedicated and effective policeman who was an irritant to authority” as just the sort she wants working for her: “an independently minded pain in the arse”.

Still thinking it must be some ridiculous mistake, and much to Hillary’s chagrin, Laurie is promoted to Lance Corporal, equipped with revolver, knife, whistle and compass, and outfitted in a white suit and boater: everything he needs to pass as an English businessman. Before long, his regular patrols with Nooney, dealing fairly with minor issues, lull him into a false sense of security that is rudely shattered when they get involved in an operation to expose a sugar black market. Just how much can they trust their superior officers to have their backs?

As he and Nooney covertly observe the lodgings of a suspected spy, they air their concerns: “All those things you’ve just mentioned might be a bit strange, but equally, they could all just be coincidences which your mind has turned into worries.” But with further consideration: “it could be that Occam’s Razor might be a bit too blunt a tool for the situation we’re in.”

On the island of Menorca, having firm control of the local padre to force his participation in her art repatriation enterprise, Llucia Quintana still worries over the safety of her only son, Oriol, setting out on his last acquisition trip to Cairo. After all, it’s June, 1917, and German U boats in the Mediterranean present a real danger.

The Jewish Andraessen family services their debt to the Quintanas by carrying a cargo of sugar from Port Alexandria, along with a hidden artefact destined for Madrid. But on this trip, while Oriol heads to Cairo to finalise his purchases, Elisheba Andreassen extends her journey into Ottoman-occupied Palestine, intent on helping attain a Jewish homeland, something Oriol can understand, because his family works towards an independent Menorca.

When the expected word doesn’t arrive, and unaware of delays these dangerous encounters have caused, Llucia decides on radical action. She’d survived by instinct and aggression, her soul entombed by a carapace of deceit; upon this foundation, she’d built an empire. But now, she understands she needs to take her concerns to a man with the power to do what is necessary to save her son. And in Cairo, Oriol may dismiss the result, the presence of certain watchers, but he’s lucky they’re there.

This is a tale that definitely requires some patience of the reader: a few aspects of the plot take quite a while to become clear, but the result is worth the effort. Some of the dialogue, especially during the rather hilarious court scene, is blackly funny, and James touches on some interesting historical points that most readers will not have previously encountered.

He gives some of his characters wise words and insightful observations: “Harmony and chaos, mate,” said Nooney, “you have to experience the latter to fully value and work for the former.” Informative, moving and often entertaining, this is an impressive debut.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Troubador Publishing.