This book is a collection of six stories that take place in Cairo after the summer of 2013, when the army ousted President Mohamed Morsi, closing de facto the cycle of protests that followed the 2011 revolution. Each story revolves around a couple from a middle class background, exploring the expectations, dreams and memories of its characters as they navigate the city’s streets, struggling with feelings of nostalgia, regret, loneliness and with the context of security of these years. They relentlessly wonder why their relationships seem to be hanging by a string, about how to start anew in the aftermath of a break-up, or a political defeat. The city of Cairo emerges as a significant character, if not the main character, in all these relationships, imposing its rhythm, its atmosphere and certain forms of sociability. El Hajj delicately mixes naturalistic and poetic descriptions of places, slight touches of irony and romance, focusing rather on moods and emotions than on dramatic events. The use of Egyptian dialect in the dialogues reinforces both the vivid style of the narration and the contemporary dimension of the stories.

Approximate number of pages: 160 p.

Foreign rights: contact the publisher