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Fadi Azzam
Saint Theresa and Sleeping with Strangers
RRP: Price: £16.99
Haus Price: £13.60
Friends of Haus: £12.95
Publication Date:
2010-05-10
ISBN:
9789774163401
Format:
Hardback
Territory:
UK & Commonwealth
Category:
AUC Fiction - Distributed Titles
Pages:
208
Recommended
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By Bahaa Abdelmegid
Groundbreaking fiction from a young Egyptian writer for the first time in English
Saint Theresa tells the story of two young women, Budour and Sawsan, child-hood friends who come of age following the 1967 war. Budour marries a humble tailor, but soon begins an extended affair with his Jewish employer. Her friend Sawson goes off to the university, only to fall in love with a dangerous young Marxist. From the ghost of a mad grandmother to student protests following Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, Saint Theresa presents a sweeping portrait of Egyptian society through the lives, loves, and jealousies of Sawsan and Budour.
In Sleeping with Strangers, Abdelmegid turns his lens on the United States - following an Egyptian, Basim, who is drawn to the 'land of opportunity', only to end up in an American prison. His encounter with a fellow prisoner who preaches to the 'black Messiah,' and his affair with a Russian woman become entangled with Basim's family history of Egyptian official secrets and a pile of stolen documents. Masterfully told, Sleeping with Strangers evokes the conflicting pull of East and West.
Bahaa Abdelmegid holds a Ph.D. in English literature from Ain Shams University, where he also teaches. He is the author of three novels, as well as a collection of short stories.
Translated by Chip Rossetti
Read an article here from Chip Rossetti after the 2011 revolution.