When the pillar of a middle-class family falls, how far will the survivors descend into the underworld to keep up appearances?

Set in Cairo during World War II, The Beginning and the End (بداية ونهاية) is a masterpiece of human compassion and tragic realism. The novel opens with the unexpected death of the father, the family's sole provider, plunging them into sudden poverty. Desperate to maintain their middle-class respectability and social standing, the burden falls heavily on the shoulders of a brother and sister. To support the family's facade of conformity, they are forced to sacrifice their own reputations, immersing themselves in the seamy underworld of Cairo. Mahfouz portrays their moral and spiritual struggles with balanced pathos, creating a moving portrait of a family unraveled by economic hardship.