Praise for

`A master of both detailed realism and fabulous storytelling' The Guardian

`A towering literary figure, and the joyous chronicler of a turbulent Egyptian century' The Economist

`Egypt's greatest living writer ... one of the world's most humane literary figures' Laila Lalami, The Nation

`The Arab Tolstoy' Simon Sebag Montefiore

`Adds yet another essential chapter to the oeuvre of a literary figure of greatness.' The National

`Smooth reading ... a compelling experiment in sound and echo.' Qantara

`This new folio of interconnected stories is very much part of Mahfouz's late experiments.' ArabLit

`A glimpse into a world that seems both ancient and distant ... [Mahfouz's] "simple" characters reveal to the reader not just the brutality of everyday life but also its distorted beauty. They show the complexities and uniqueness of their world and in doing so offer lessons for all of humanity to draw on ... a teasing glimpse of Mahfouz's work ... seek it out.' Socialist Review

‘Masterly … Unmistakably Cairene … translated with practised clarity by Roger Allen.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘Naguib Mahfouz’s legacy as Egypt’s greatest novelist is sustained with these engaging short stories … their themes are timeless.’ New Statesman

Praise for Naguib Mahfouz

‘The Arab world’s foremost novelist … Arabic has a rich tradition in poetry, but the novel was not a strong art form until Mahfouz made it accessible.’ New York Times

‘A towering literary figure, and the joyous chronicler of a turbulent Egyptian century … [Mahfouz] populated his works with a cast of memorably strong urban characters. … The result was a body of work that bore comparison with Balzac and Dickens. But Mahfouz also introduced his audience to a new way of seeing.’ The Economist

‘A master of both detailed realism and fabulous storytelling, the scope of his genius remains unjustly little-known to English readers’ The Guardian

‘Egypt’s greatest living writer … one of the world’s most humane literary figures. Like Émile Zola, Mahfouz chronicled the lives of the most ordinary of his countrymen: peasants, workers, housewives, shopkeepers, prostitutes. Like Fyodor Dostoyevsky, he set most of his novels in one beloved city – Cairo, in his case. Like his elders Taha Husayn and Tawfiq al-Hakim, he took on the role of national storyteller.’ The Nation

‘Mahfouz’s work is freshly nuanced and hauntingly lyrical. The Nobel Prize acknowledges the universal significance of [his] fiction.’ Los Angeles Times

Praise for The Cairo Trilogy

‘A masterpiece’ The Times

‘Luminous … All the magic, mystery and suffering of Egypt in the 1920s are conveyed on a human scale.’ New York Times Book Review

‘It is Mahfouz’s wonderful ability to delineate human beings from their outer appearances which gives Palace Walk its universal appeal. I shall read it again and again’ The Guardian

‘Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy puts all contemporary writers in the shade. He is the Arab Tolstoy.’ Simon Sebag Montefiore

‘The alleys, the houses, the palaces and mosques and the people who live among them are evoked as vividly as the streets of London were conjured up by Dickens.’ Newsweek

‘An engrossing work, whose author can take his place alongside any European master you care to name’ Sunday Times

‘A magnificent, Tolstoyan saga ... unmissable’ Cosmopolitan

‘The Cairo Trilogy extends our knowledge of life; it also confirms it.’ Boston Globe

‘A grand novel of ideas … a marvellous read’ Washington Post

‘Mahfouz’s genius is not just that he shows us Egyptian colonial society in all its complexity; it is that he makes us look through the vision of his vivid characters and see people and ideas that no longer seem alien.’ Philadelphia Inquirer

Foreword by Elif Shafak
Introduction by Roger Allen
The Oven
Your Lot in Life
Pursuit
Son of the Quarter
The Scream
Namla’s Prophesy
Bad Luck
Shaikhun
The Arrow
The Whisper of the Stars
Our Father Igwa
The Storm
The End of Boss Saqr
Life is a Game
Nabqa in the Old Fort
Late Night Secret
The Prayer of Sheikh Qaf
Tawhida