Spring

Rafei dramatizes the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 in her vivid debut. Sami, a rudderless student ignoring his devout Muslim mother’s anxious phone calls, lives with his pregnant American girlfriend, Rose, in a seedy neighborhood on the edge of Tahrir Square. Two hours away in the textile-mill city of Mahalla, Sami’s mother, Suad, lonely and bitter, wishes she had married her long-ago teenage crush, Gamal, instead of her philandering, perpetually absent husband, Mahmoud, an oilman in the Gulf. Jamila, a pregnant refugee from Sudan, wears a hijab and voluminous cloak as much for protection from men’s prying eyes (and groping hands) as to obey the strictures of Islam. Having narrowly survived the massacre of her entire family in Sudan, as well as the brutality of those who smuggled her into Egypt, she is now seeking resettlement in the West to escape a man stalking her in her Cairo slum. As the characters each face their personal turmoil, the protests in Tahrir Square come to a head in especially powerful scenes. Rafei paints a gritty picture of life in sprawling, poverty-stricken sections of Cairo, in contrast to the splendid lifestyles of rich Egyptians and Westerners. Throughout, Rafei provides authentic details of local cuisine, vintage pop music, clothing, and the roar of the crowd (“It sounded melodic. Musical, even. Like the hook of an Umm Kalthoum song”). Readers will hope to see more from this talented author. (Aug.)