Palace Walk, by Egyptian Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz (translated from Arabic by William Maynard Hutchins) is the story of an Egyptian family at the end of WWI. It follows this family through several years, beautifully narrating day to day life in Egypt during British occupation after the turn of the century.
I really enjoyed this book because before I read it I had little idea of what life might have been like in Cairo in 1917, or even today, really. And that's what the best books do, expose us to worlds and worldviews otherwise outside of our own experiences. So while I was at times frustrated with the Father or the Mother or the British or almost everyone, it's about a culture so foreign to my own that I was content to just soak it all in. In an academic setting, I know it would spark lively discussion about cultural differences and equality issues, especially regarding the role of women in Islam, a more complex topic than I think many of us realize. I highly recommend it to anyone curious about Egyptian life or Arabic literature. Also, it was really timely because the last third of the book is about demonstrations in Cairo to overthrow British occupation, which is definitely relevant to Egypt's struggles to govern itself today. Lastly, I think this was a great place to start my personal African literature tear in preparation for this coming Fall. Next up, a nonfiction work called 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, no doubt illuminating but also a great example of how diverse African literature is, not something I always think about.
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