Distinguished literary critic Bodour is trapped in a loveless marriage and carries with her a dark secret. She fell in love in her youth and gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, Zeina, whom she abandoned on the streets of Cairo. Bodour doesn't know that Zeina has blossomed into one of Egypt's most beloved entertainers. Pining for her estranged daughter, she writes a fictional account of her life in an attempt to find solace. But as the revolution in Cairo begins to gain fire, the novel goes missing and Bodour must find who has stolen it. Will her hunt for the thief bring mother and daughter together? Or is Bodour destined to lose her daughter to Cairo forever?
`The leading spokeswoman on the status of women in the Arab world' Guardian; 'At a time when nobody else was talking, [El Saadawi] spoke the unspeakable.' Margaret Atwood, BBC Imagine; `El Saadawi writes with directness and passion' New York Times; `A poignant and brave writer' Marie Claire; `El Saadawi has come to embody the trials of Arab feminism' San Francisco Chronicle
ISBN: 9780863563553
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 25mm
Weight: 245g
256 pages