Synopses & Reviews
Zakeya hoes the stony fields on the banks of the Nile, each day as relentless and unchanging as the last. But when her two pretty young nieces fall prey to the lust of the local Mayor, a crude and petty tyrant, his cheating schemes provoke Zakeya into a startling act of revenge.
Written with all the sustained, brutal insistence of Woman at Point Zero, this tale of tragedy, deception and lust is also a moving political allegory.
Review
"Nawal El Saadawi writes with directness and passion, transforming the systematic brutalization of peasants and women into powerful allegory." New York Times Book Review
Review
"A quietly formidable achievement; its understated evocation of tragedy and strength in the face of victimization make it a graceful classic." Women's Review
Review
"Powerfully political." Poetry Nation Review
About the Author
Egyptian novelist, doctor and militant writer on Arab women's problems and their struggle for liberation, Nawal El Saadawi was born in the village of Kafr Tahla. Refusing to accept the limitations imposed by both religious and colonial oppression on most women of rural origin, she qualified as a doctor in 1955 and rose to become Egypt's Director of Public Health. Since she began to write over 30 years ago, her books have concentrated on women.