This novel revisits Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis in its theme of the inexplicable transformation of a man who goes to sleep and wakes up as a monster. Set in Tangier in present-day Morocco, it tells the story of Jawad, a young teacher who gives up on his professional dreams to undertake the financial responsibility for his family: his controlling father, mother, sister, and wife, who all live in the same house. The pressure of being the family’s breadwinner who exercises two professions leads to Jawad’s ultimate breakdown and metamorphosis into a helpless and repulsive monster. As in Kafka’s novel, the acceptance of diversity is tested under the circumstances of economic and capitalist pressures, a conservative society, and selfish and disloyal family members.

Approximate number of pages: 160 p.

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