When Elizabeth Gordon, London legal secretary, heads to Morocco to heal her broken heart, she had little idea the direction her life would take. From temping to the glamorous world of Middle Eastern dance, from grey London to .glittering Cyprus and all of the stops in between before returning to the English boardrooms. Elizabeth takes us through her induction into Arabic culture, and her experiences are a fascinating insight into a time that has ceased to exist.

The matter portion of the book goes through her return to the "real" world, and her reuniuon with Hassan and his fashion career inspired by her.

Overall, it was an interesting memoir. I adore Middle Eastern dance, and I would have liked to have learned more about the dancing, and costumes etc, rather than the worlds of secretaries and PAs.

~ Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

Like Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love, in My Journey as a Belly Dancer Elizabeth Gordon finds a way to put her life back together after a painful breakup, only to end up with a life that's much better than the one before.

After heading to Morocco, because who doesn't want to head to an exotic location after a breakup, Gordon sees a woman belly dancing in her hotel. This sparks some inspiration, and once she's back in London, she hunts down a place to take dance lessons and eventually ends up dancing in a restaurant in London while working as a legal secretary during the daytime. As you can imagine, her life ends up taking her in a direction that she never expected after her initial journey to Morocco.

My Thoughts on My Journey as a Belly Dancer

If you watched the Superbowl Halftime show that featured Shakira and JLo, then you know what belly dancing is. And if you're anything like me, the idea of learning how to do it is extremely tempting. (It looks like fun.) I took those ideas with me as I read the book, reveling at the ways in which Gordon describes the dancing, as well as her life outside of the studio.

I think that the best memoirs are those that are honest and include people who are fully "written" or described characters. I want to hear about the mundane daily minutia so that I can see the author's personal evolution. This is one of those books. It's captivating, well-written, and extremely interesting. I highly recommend it.

Quite interesting account of a legal secretary's life in the world of belly dancing. Easy read if a little repetitive.

I had high hopes for this book because bellydancing is one of my interests and I'm friends with multiple bellydancers. I had a really hard time getting into this book but was determined to finish it. The ending of the book felt like it was very abrupt and left me with more questions about Hussein & his dad. This is not a book that I'd read again.