Author Carolyn Baugh tells the moving story of a young American student living in the Garden City district of Cairo. Having come to study Arabic, she learns far more from the Egyptian women, young and old, she meets within the swirl and tumult of Garden City. Living, loving, and flourishing amid the fierce inflexibility of tradition, these women reveal a fascinating world of arranged marriages, secret romances, and the often turbulent bonds between four generations of Arab mothers and daughters.

Meet the women of Garden City:
     Huda, who waited desperately for the man she loved until she could wait no longer
     Karima, who found her future husband in a collapsing post-war world
     Afkar, who paid a dreadful price for her freedom
     Selwa, who suffered through the deaths of her children
     Yusriyya, who left her native village for a new life in the city
     Samira, who loved a man who was not hers

Rich with the sights and sounds of modern Egypt, The View from Garden City lifts the veil of privacy to explore the stunning inner strength of women torn between their dreams for the future and the sacrifices they must make in a world of harsh realities.