Moussa Massy dreams of being a star. A Kabyle singer in 1990s Algiers, Massy electrifies audiences with his fusion of Arab and African melodies with American pop music. At 36, he desperately wants to marry his long-term fianc?e and escape from the three-room apartment he shares with thirteen other members of his family. When he […]
Young Moroccans gather regularly in a seafront cafe to gaze at the lights on the Spanish coast glimmering in the distance. Azel, the protagonist, is intent on leaving in one way or another. On the brink of despair he meets Miguel, a wealthy Spanish gallery owner who promises to take him to Barcelona if Azel […]
Set in 1950s Sudan, LYRICS ALLEY is the story of the powerful and sprawling Abuzied dynasty. With Mahmood Bey at its helm, the family can do no wrong. But when Mahmood’s son, Nur – the brilliant, charming heir to his business empire – suffers a near-fatal accident, his hopes of university and a glittering future […]
Bodour, a distinguished literary critic and university professor, carries with her a dark secret. As a young university student, she fell in love with a political activist and gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, Zeina, whom she abandoned on the streets of Cairo. Zeina grows up to become one of Egypt’s most beloved entertainers, despite […]
On his “journey from the dreams of the jinn to the love of the truth” Jaafar Ibrahim Sayyed al-Rawi is guided by his motto, “let life be filled with holy madness to the last breath.” A victim of wrong decisions he loses everything, family and wealth. He goes from a life of comfort with a […]
Told through the voices of a group of close friends and spanning a generation, The Smiles of the Saints is an epic story condensed into an intricate novel. Twenty-year-old Haneen has just returned to Egypt after an absence of fifteen years spent mostly in a Parisian boarding school. She has been summoned back by her […]
A coming-of-age story is given a creative twist in this intimate, offbeat, and strangely affecting novel. The young narrator, age 11, lives with his aged father in a disheveled furnished flat in Cairo. Exceptionally attuned to the moods, habits, and silent yearnings of the adults around him, the boy decides to get organized and become […]