The Red Silk Robe chronicles the true story of Julia Cynthia Kent. From an uninspiring and often traumatic early life in England, the 17-year-old Julie (as she was then known) escapes to an exciting life as a singer - and sometimes stripper - with an entertainment show traveling around Europe around 1960. Taking a break from the tour, she finds herself on a beach in Beirut, where she meets a dashing young Lebanese man. In short order, she is married, pregnant, and widowed in Lebanon.The book tracks her difficult - often adversarial - relationship with her Muslim in-laws and her struggle to raise two young boys in a land with strict religious, political, and marital rules. A place where an Englishwoman is forever considered foreign in a time of political upheaval.Julia shows us how she triumphed over adversity while providing us with a valuable look into the differences between Western and Middle Eastern cultures. The book will give most Americans a view that they have never seen before. I found the book incredibly interesting.[Note that while our last names are the same, there is no relation.]
