City of Love and Ashes

A Novel

Yusuf Idris author R Neil Hewison translator

Format:Paperback

Publisher:The American University in Cairo Press

Published:25th Jan '02

Should be back in stock very soon

City of Love and Ashes cover

A classic novel from one of the great contemporary writers of Egypt and the Middle East

Cairo, January 1952. Egypt is at a critical point in its modern history, struggling to throw off the yoke of the seventy-year British occupation and its corrupt royalist allies. Hamza is a committed young radical, his goal to build a secret armed brigade to fight for freedom, independence, and national self-esteem. Fawziya is a woman with a mission too, keen to support the cause. Among the ashes of the city love may grow, but at a time of national struggle what place do personal feelings have beside the greater love for a shackled homeland? In this finely crafted novel, Yusuf Idris, best known as the master of the Arabic short story, brings to life not only some of the most human characters in modern Arabic fiction but the soul of Cairo itself and the soul of a national consciousness focused on liberation.

WINNER OF THE NAGUIB MAHFOUZ MEDAL FOR LITERATURE

"Like the Russian aristocrats of Chekhov, the provincial bourgeoisie of Flaubert, or the Ibo villagers of Achebe, Idris raises his authentic characters into convincing types within their context: he makes us live their agonies and hopes." —Ferial Ghazoul

“Idris’s imagination, craft, and emotional insight make this a must-read” —Publishers Weekly, starred review, on The Cheapest Nights

ISBN: 9789774246999

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

180 pages