Arabia Books

Papa Sartre

A Modern Arabic Novel from Iraq
by Ali Bader

After a failed study mission in France, Abd al-Rahman returns home to Iraq to launch an existentialist movement akin to that of his hero. Convinced that it falls upon him to introduce his country’s intellectuals to Sartre’s thought, he feels especially qualified by his physical resemblance to the philosopher (except for the crossed eyes) and by his marriage to Germaine, who he claims is the great man’s cousin. Meanwhile, his wealth and family prestige guarantee him an idle life spent in drinking, debauchery, and frequenting a well-known nightclub.

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Price: £13.60

Learning English

A Modern Arabic Novel from Lebanon
by Rachid Al-Daif

No matter how hard Rachid tries to recreate himself, to become educated and wordly – to ‘learn English’ – it is impossible for this hip Beiruti with his cell phone and high-speed internet to sever the connection to his past in the Lebanese village of Zgharta, know for its ‘tough guys’ and old-fashioned clan mentality.

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Price: £6.40

B as in Beirut

A Modern Arabic Novel from Lebanon
by Iman Humaydan Younes

The four interlocking narratives that make up this extraordinary novel belong to four women who live in the same apartment building in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war.

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Price: £7.19

As Doha Said

A Modern Arabic Novel from Egypt
by Bahaa Taher

A tale of post-revolutionary disillusionment. A sophisticated and richly textured novel exploring themes such as apathy and despair, courage and self-sacrifice, ambition and temptation, disillusionment and political faith, and, above all, commitment and betrayal. Egyptian Bahaa Taher was the first writer to be awarded the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (the 'Arabic Booker')

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Price: £6.40

The Zafarani Files


by Gamal al-Ghitani

An unknown observer is watching the residents of a small, closely-knit neighborhood in Cairo's old city, making notes. The college graduate, the street vendors, the political prisoner, the cafe owner, the taxi driver, the beautiful green-eyed young wife with the troll of a husband. All are subjects of surveillance. The watcherís reports flow seamlessly into a narrative about Zafarani Alley, a village tucked into a corner of the city, where intrigue is the main entertainment, and everyone has a secret.

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Price: £7.19