Who is Ahmad Abd al-Jawad—the stern patriarch commanding absolute obedience at home, or the charming hedonist seeking nightly pleasures in Cairo’s streets?

Palace Walk is the first volume of Naguib Mahfouz’s magnificent Cairo Trilogy, an epic saga that defined modern Arabic literature. Set during the British occupation in the early 1900s, it invites readers into the Al-Jawad household. Here, the mother, Amina, is a "willing prisoner" of domestic virtue, while her daughters glimpse the world through wooden lattice screens. Meanwhile, the sons grapple with the shifting tides of history—especially Fahmy, who is swept up in the violent struggle for Egyptian independence. As the New York Times noted, this is "a tale told with great affection, humor, and sensitivity," capturing the pulse of a family and a nation in transition.