| "April. Month of dust and lies..." (from the first line) A stunning novel by the widest-read Arab writer currently published in the U.S. The age of Nasser has ushered in enormous social change, and most of the middle-aged and middle-class sons and daughters of the old bourgeoisie find themselves trying to recreate the cozy, enchanted world they so dearly miss. One night, however, art and reality collide--with unforeseen circumstances.
Annotation:
In Mahfouz's passionate novel, the time is the late 1960s, and a group of friends, sons of the old bourgeoisie, have a habit of meeting in the evenings on a houseboat moored along the banks of the Nile to mourn the passing of the Nasser era, recalling the good old days when things seemed easier for members of their class. Their dreamy detachment continues until fate intervenes and changes things once again.
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