Midaq Alley

Naguib Mahfouz · 1911–2006 · Egypt

Originally Zuqaq al-Midaqq (Arabic) · translated by Trevor Le Gassick

Why it matters

One Cairo alley during the Second World War (a barber, a matchmaker, a beauty tempted toward the British camps). Mahfouz's most loved early novel: the world in a hundred meters of street.

At a glance

Compact, plainly told ensemble piece with a straightforward chronology.