This is a strange but mesmerising book. It tells of the detailed search into the life of Enayat al-Zayyat, a young Egyptian female author who committed suicide before the publication of her only novel. Also bound up with the posy-colonial politics of Egypt and, specifically, what happened to women under Nassar. It's by no means an easy read, but it is fascinating, and shows how the struggle continues across generations.
Sometimes a piece of writing can shake your very being. This doesn't mean that it has to be unprecedented in the history of literature or the best thing you have ever read. It is fate, delivering a message to help you make sense of whatever you are going through - and at the exact moment that you most need it, whether you realise it or not. We are grateful not only to 'great' literature, but to all writing that plays a significant role in how we understand ourselves in a particular moment. When we turn to contemplate our lives, it is these works that let us see.
