Palace Walk
- London Black Swan 1994
- 498 p.
- The Cairo trilogy 1 .
Palace WaIk is the first volume of the celebrated Cairo Trilogy, the story of twentieth-century Egypt told through the eyes of the Al Jawad family. A sweeping family saga crossing three generations, the trilogy is set in the old quarter of Cairo, and spans the decades from the turn of the century to Nasser's historic overthrowal of the old regime in 1952. Palace Walk opens in 1902. Ahmad, a prosperous shopkeeper, is a tyrant at home, who terrorises his devoted wife Amina and keeps her in strict seclusion behind the house's Iatticed windows. One day, however, Amina is persuaded to venture outside by her young son, but is discovered by Ahmad, who consequently banishes her from his home. As the story unfoIds, we discover the sleazier side of Cairo and begin to see Ahmad's behaviour is not quite as moral as he wouId have his famiIy believe..