Traces of Enayat

Iman Mersal

Summary

When Iman Mersal stumbles upon a great – yet forgotten – novel written by Enayat al-Zayyat, a young woman who killed herself in 1963, four years before her book was published, Mersal begins to research the writer. She tracks down Enayat's best friend, who had been Egypt's biggest movie star at the time; she is given access to Enayat's diaries. Mersal can't accept, as has been widely speculated since Enayat's death, that a publisher's rejection was the main reason for Enayat's suicide. From archives, Enayat's writing, and Mersal's own interviews and observations, a remarkable portrait emerges of a woman striving to live on her own terms, as well as of the artistic and literary scene in post-revolution Cairo.

Blending research with imagination, and adding a great deal of empathy, the award-winning Egyptian poet Iman Mersal has created an unclassifiable masterpiece.

Available since: 08/03/2023.

Print length: 240 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Modern Japan - From Isolation to...

Rolf Hedger

This meticulously researched work chronicles the dramatic evolution of Japanese society, politics, and culture across five crucial periods that shaped modern Japan.
The Edo Period (1603-1868) sets the stage for Japan's modernization, examining the isolationist Sakoku policy that limited foreign contact for over two centuries. Explore how this era of peace under Tokugawa rule fostered a unique urban culture, flourishing arts, and a complex social hierarchy.
The Meiji Era (1868-1912) unveils Japan's remarkable metamorphosis following the fall of the shogunate. Witness the rapid industrialization, constitutional monarchy, and wholesale adoption of Western technologies and institutions that transformed Japan.
The Taisho Era (1912-1926), though brief, represents a critical period of liberalization and cultural experimentation. Discover the blossoming of democratic ideals, the emergence of "Taisho democracy," and the cultural renaissance that saw Western influences blend with traditional Japanese aesthetics during this often-overlooked chapter of Japanese history.
The Showa Era (1926-1989) encompasses Japan's most tumultuous and consequential decades, from militarism and war to miraculous economic recovery. Follow Japan's journey through ultranationalism, World War II, Allied occupation, and its stunning rise as an economic superpower.
Imperial Japan (1868-1945) examines the nation's complex imperial period, from the restoration of Emperor Meiji to the aftermath of World War II. Understand the interplay between ancient imperial traditions and modern state-building that fueled Japan's rise as a colonial power and its fateful path to war.
Richly illustrated and accessibly written, this definitive five-in-one volume offers both newcomers and Japan enthusiasts a comprehensive understanding of the forces that shaped modern Japan.

Show book

Cold Case Indiana

Autumn Bones

Haunting mysteries from America's Heartland
Indiana rightly prides itself as a safe place to live. Nevertheless, the Hoosier State has experienced its share of unexplained deaths and unsolved disappearances. The state's oldest missing child case, the disappearance of four-year-old Richmond Byers from Seelyville in 1904, may never be solved. The 1998 attempted bombing of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse remains one of the only unsolved instances of domestic terrorism in the United States. The identities of Bedford's so-called Carnival Babies will likely forever be unknown. The 1929 murder of Elizabeth Miller may have been the result of the community's belief that she was a witch, but the true culprit has never been brought to light.
Author of Unsolved Indiana Autumn Bones explores some of Indiana's least known unsolved mysteries.

Show book

The Good The Bad and the Nomadic

Phil O'Brien

A collection of stories from the life and times of Australian Outback Raconteur Phil O'Brien. Failing to ever settle down he has amassed over 200 jobs in a life of reckless misadventure , near death experiences, failed romance and at times a few too many beers. Never burdened by material possessions or financial security he was just a bloke that went out and had a crack, and somehow has turned drifting around outback Australia into an artform. The Good The Bad and the Nomadic is a selection of yarns from Phil's previous books and some not told before, all brought to life with entertaining Audio and narrated by Author Phil O'Brien. Easy listening often humorous and unfortunately all the stories are true.
An enthusiastic observer and Storyteller Phil O'Brien comes from the Northern Territory of Australia. Leaving home at an early age Phil O'Brien pursued a life of freedom on the road going from job to job and place to place, never quite settling down. His longest job was as a Crocodile Farmer in North East Arnhem Land spanning two a half years, and his shortest was as a Drink Waiter which lasted roughly 27 seconds, and there’s been everything in between. But through it all he has remained on optimist.
His lack of formal education has been no drawback as his creativity and passion to entertain and share a story has shone through with 5 published books , also there has been several film projects, as well as being an active live musical performer. He was awarded a Pride of Australia medal in 2007 .
In between projects he is still living a mainly nomadic life across the North of Australia.

Show book

Portrait of a Woman - Art...

Bridget Quinn

Summer in Paris, 1783. The Louvre steps, too hot and no breeze, the air electric with the heady anticipation of a coming storm: the year's Royal Salon. Men and women of every estate are united under art: to love it, to despise it, to gossip endlessly about it. 
 
 
 
Exhibiting at the Royal Salon was not for the faint of heart, and it was never intended for women. 
 
 
 
Enter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard . . . 
 
 
 
Born in Paris in 1749, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard rose from shopkeeper's daughter to an official portraitist of the royal court—only to have her achievements reduced to ash by the French Revolution. While she defied societal barriers to become a member of the exclusive Académie Royale, she left behind few writings, and her legacy was long overshadowed by celebrated portraitist and memoirist Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. 
 
 
 
But Adélaïde Labille-Guiard's story lives on. In this engaging biography, Bridget Quinn applies her insightful interpretation of art history to Labille-Guiard's life. Quinn expertly blends close analyses of paintings with broader context about the era and inserts delicately fictionalized interpersonal scenes that fill the gaps in the historical record.

Show book

A Resurrection - From their pens...

H B Marriott Watson

The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is H B Marriott Watson.

Show book

Return to Eden: The Wilderness...

Elegy

England in the time of his boyhood was a cold and colourless country. They had seen to that, the Autumn Men. They who had been lifted high, the old men of his country and other countries, who in the autumn of their years, reflecting on the unfulfilled promise of their youth, and their failures as yet unredeemed, feeling as any old man adrift alone on a small boat, sails broken, oars lost, swept hopelessly onward towards the deafening roar of the approaching weir, might feel, decided that too few had sweetly and honourably been called. So call out the young men, wide-eyed and brave of heart, to don uniform, bid sweethearts farewell and forfeit their future. And murder in the name of God. Until they too are harvested 'neath the Autumn Men's sickle. And the lark song is stilled as passing bells are heard anew. ------------ No longer could the innocent look to the heavens for salvation, only look on in horror as the devil poured the contents of hell over them. And so it was and so it remained until Satan, who had found refuge in the hearts of too many, was cast out and the women had cried.."enough!!" ---------- And on countless memorials in towns and villages across the cold and colourless country, new names were added to the old and memorials once again were baptised with tears of the innocent for the innocent. And in the great city as the weak winter sunshine filters through the mists of an early November morning, the Autumn Men in their black coats and polished shoes still stand, shameless, in solemn line to bow their heads and lay poppy-lit wreaths, mankind's apology to its youth. ---------- This then was the wasteland of his boyhood. One from which he would spend the rest of his life trying to escape.

Show book