Upper Egyptian

Author's name: Fatima Al-Awa

In this novel, novelist Fatima Al-Awa takes us on a long journey with the character "Al-Saidi" between Syria and England, passing through Turkey, Egypt, and Iran; traversing an unconventional labyrinth of intertwining characters. The novel's events overflow with characters of different nationalities, whom we get to know through the lines and between them, and we see the different roles each of them plays in the life of the novel's main hero, "Al-Saidi," and how life has connected them. Fatima Al-Awa is able to dissect the details and present them to the reader as a satisfying meal, in exquisite writing techniques that rise to the occasion. Between the streets of Syria, London, Iran, and Upper Egypt, we learn how the fragility of human existence is capable of creating beauty and hope despite all the surrounding circumstances and unfortunate events.