New Cairo

Author: Naguib Mahfouz

Mahjoub Abdel Dayem faces an economic crisis that makes him resentful of his social status and willing to do anything to get rich and rise to higher and more prestigious positions. This includes entering into a sham marriage with his neighbor Ihsan, the secret mistress of "the Pasha," to ensure they have a safe way to meet intimately. He believes in his moral principle, expressed in a blunt confrontation with his colleagues who follow the Islamist or socialist currents, to embody political movements and class suffering in their ugliest manifestations. The novel was published in 1946 and adapted for the cinema in Salah Abu Seif's film "Cairo 30" in 1966.