The Cairo Trilogy

En savoir plus sur le livre

Naguib Mahfouz’s epic trilogy of colonial Egypt is presented in one volume for the first time. This Nobel Prize-winning writer’s masterwork tells the engrossing story of a Muslim family in Cairo during Britain’s early twentieth-century occupation. The narrative follows three generations of the family led by the tyrannical patriarch al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, who rules with a strict hand while indulging in a secret life. Palace Walk introduces his gentle, oppressed wife Amina, his cloistered daughters Aisha and Khadija, and his three sons: the tragic idealist Fahmy, the hedonistic Yasin, and the introspective Kamal. In Palace of Desire, al-Sayyid Ahmad’s rebellious children struggle against his domination as they confront the modernity and turmoil of the 1920s. Sugar Street culminates the trilogy with the aging patriarch witnessing his grandson’s diverging paths—one becomes a Communist, another a Muslim fundamentalist, and the third a lover of a powerful politician. The family's trials reflect the turbulent changes in their country during the years surrounding the two World Wars, as society grapples with the forces of change it has long resisted. Filled with drama, humor, and insight, this trilogy showcases Mahfouz’s storytelling mastery.