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Meet the people of Cairo´s Gamaliya quarter. There is Nabqa, son of Adam the waterseller who can only speak truths; the beautiful and talented Tawhida who does not age with time; Ali Zaidan, the gambler, late to love; and Boss Saqr who stashes his money above the bath. A neighbourhood of demons, dancing and sweet halva, the quarter keeps quiet vigil over the secrets of all who live there. This collection by pre-eminent Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz was recently discovered among his old papers. Found with a slip of paper titled ´for publishing 1994´, they are published here for the first time. Resplendent with Mahfouz´s delicate and poignant observations of everyday happenings, these lively stories lay bare the beauty hidden in the infamous labyrinths of Cairo.

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