My uncle, I, and the Immobilia

Author's name: Nasser Iraq

German Robert Scharfenberg took refuge in Egypt, fleeing the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. No sooner had he settled down and started working in cinema with the help of his Egyptian friend than that friend passed away, leaving his only son, Fikry, in Scharfenberg's care. When Scharfenberg's niece, Elsa, comes to live with him in the Immobilia building, Fikry begins to get close to her and tries to arouse her interest. Meanwhile, Scharfenberg falls in love with Zouzou, whom Fikry suspects is an intelligence agent. He decides to devote himself to uncovering the truth about this mysterious woman! The novel, in a suspenseful way, conveys the atmosphere of cinema in Egypt during the 1940s, a sentiment expressed by novelist Nasser Iraq with a sense of humor. He presents well-known figures such as Umm Kulthum, Mustafa El-Nahhas, Salah Abu Seif, and Naguib Mahfouz as active characters within the text, sharing with the protagonists many concerns and questions about the activities of the intelligence services in the world before World War II. It also sheds light on the political developments during that period, revealing its richness and diversity, and championing cultural and intellectual pluralism, offering a warm tribute to the era of black and white films framed by nostalgia.