Ahmed Effendi Akef is forced to leave his education and work as an employee after his father is dismissed from his job, while the family is forced to move from the Sakakini neighborhood to the Khan al-Khalili neighborhood with the increase in raids during World War II. There, Ahmed, an elderly man in his forties, falls in love with his sixteen-year-old neighbor, Nawal, while his brother Rushdi returns. He is from Assiut and exchanges love with Nawal, so Ahmed hides his feelings and frustrations. However, Rushdie's recklessness leads him to contract tuberculosis, leaving great grief among his family members. The novel was published in 1945, and was transferred to the cinema screen in a movie directed by Atef Salem in 1966.
Pages: 288
