I enjoyed the cultural insight & the history lesson about Oman, especially about the slave trade. The style, which saunters back and forth across time, looks like it would have been a clever way of linking the stories but it was very confusing on audio & given the huge cast I found it difficult to follow. In the end, there wasn’t that much of a storyline, but I guess that’s life for you. 

I think this would have been much better in written form, especially as the book version has a handy family tree to keep track of all the characters. Having said that, I’m pleased to have read it, I found it interesting and on the whole, well written.