Under the surface of the world

I was not surprised when I read the beautiful writing of Dr. Ghada Labib about her unique journey, as my follow-up to her excellent presentations of much of what she reads confirmed to me that those who read well write well. She is a rare dedicated cultural activist, and she sacrifices in this dedication a sacrifice that only doctors who abandon medicine for literature and art can appreciate. With this cultural wealth, she traveled through the worlds of this continent country, to come out with an exciting aesthetic vision in a text about the country of the kangaroo, whom she met personally and welcomed her with exceptional warmth, as if he knew how much this visitor to his homeland would reveal much of the unknown unique about this country — the continent — which did not ignore its past, but established cultural edifices for purification through acknowledgment. I believe the author excelled in her interrogation, with foresight, delicacy, and beauty. This book, Dr. Ghada Labib takes us on a sixty-day journey to Australia, in a style that combines the spontaneity of a tourist and the perspective of a documentarian. She takes us from the walls of the old Fremantle Prison in Perth, to the bustling modern city of Melbourne, from the innocence of the kangaroo in the wild to the pain of the "stolen generations" that still beats in the memory of the indigenous people. "Under the Surface of the World" is a unique book that fills a void about a distant country and two cities that are difficult to travel to. It offers the reader many enjoyable reflections in simple, honest language without pretension. Ghada Labib is an Egyptian dentist. She worked in dentistry for years, then dedicated herself to her favorite hobby: reading. She founded the Book Garden reading group in an attempt to raise awareness of the importance of reading and to create an interactive community of readers from all Arab countries. She is also a moderator for literary and cultural seminars. "Under the Surface of the World" is her first published book.