The Quarter

‘A towering literary figure’ – Economist

‘A master of ... fabulous storytelling’ – Guardian

A previously unpublished collection of stories from Naguib Mahfouz, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Meet the people of Cairo’s Gamaliya quarter. There is Nabqa, son of Adam
the waterseller who can only speak truths; the beautiful and talented Tawhida who
does not age with time; Ali Zaidan, the gambler, late to love; and Boss Saqr who stashes his money above the bath. A neighbourhood of demons, dancing and sweet halva, the quarter keeps quiet vigil over the secrets of all who live there.

This collection by pre-eminent Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz was recently discovered among his old papers. Found with a slip of paper titled ‘to be published in 1994’, they are published here for the first time. Resplendent with Mahfouz’s delicate and poignant observations of everyday happenings, these lively stories take the reader deep into the beating heart of Cairo.