Palace Walk

Book one of The Cairo Trilogy, authored by the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1988).

This is the story of the life of an Egyptian Muslim family living through the period between the end of World War I and the beginning of the 1919 revolution against British rule, a time of dramatic change in Egypt.

It isn't short book, but it is a relatively easy read. The chapters are short and loosely change from character to character. The character depth is engrossing and each characters story gets a hearing, and all are linked in the dynamic of the Al Jawad family. The characters are all accessible, and easy to identify with, despite being caught up in the conservative Muslim gender rules of the time.

The characters are interesting and dynamic, from the two sides of the patriarch Ahmad, who rules the family with an iron fist, controlling them with the most conservative interpretation of family modesty, yet lives his own debauched life outside of his home, to the other family members - subservient wife Amina, eldest son Yasin from his first marriage, eldest daughter Khadija, son Fahmy, blonde blue eyed daughter Aisha and youngest son Kamal.

Marriages, births, deaths, divorce. The occupation of Egypt by the British, the roles of gender, and family politics all feature heavily, although it stays relatively shallow on Egyptian politics, which is probably why this book stays so readable.

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected, and have the second and third parts of the trilogy on the shelf, so have no hesitation in keeping them on the to-be-read-list.

Retrospectively upgraded to 5 stars on completion of the trilogy.