- Book Topics
- Arab feminism
- Egypt
- Nasser
- Arabic music
- colonialism
- revolution
- Om Kalsoum
- Cairo Nightclub Scene
- Egypt in the 40s & 50s
The Oud Player of Cairo
Vibrantly descriptive and evocative of Egypt and Cairo during the final years of British colonial rule during the mid-20th century, this debut novel by Jasmin Attia tells the compelling story of a young Egyptian woman, Laila, who defies the restrictive traditional roles set for women at that time, and instead follows a path inspired by her musician father—a much-beloved oud player—to become a singer and performer in her own right.
After extricating herself from an abusive marriage, Laila struggles to maintain her independence as a singer in Cairo’s chic international nightclubs, and embarks on an affair that puts her in grave danger, forcing her to make a decision that will forever alter the course of her life.
- Book Topics
- Arab feminism
- Egypt
- Nasser
- Arabic music
- colonialism
- revolution
- Om Kalsoum
- Cairo Nightclub Scene
- Egypt in the 40s & 50s
Reviews and Comments
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Lush, sensuous, unabashedly romantic, and richly drawn, Jasmin Attia’s ‘The Oud Player of Cairo’ evokes with passion and precision a bygone world, a culture’s struggle, and one extraordinary woman’s erotic and political awakenings.
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This rich and passionate novel affords a total immersion in the life of a great city in a time of historic transition—its foods, its fashions, its traditions, its class divisions—and in the heart and mind of its gifted and determined heroine. The Oud Player of Cairo is an ambitious and assured debut.
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A novel that’s both emotionally rich and scrupulously researched, The Oud Player of Cairo evokes a vanished time and place: The last years of colonial Egypt, a city and a nation on the precipice of colossal change. This book is about music and love and family bonds, about a complex society that battles over wealth and power and privilege, about an individual woman’s struggle to chart her own path through the world. It’s brilliantly rendered. Twenty-two years pass over the course of its pages, but those decades feel like the blink of an eye.
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Spirited…affecting and bittersweet. Readers will be moved.
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For a nuanced look at both urban life and the making of art, Attia’s novel has both in abundance.
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Laila is the beating heart of the novel. She is a feminist before that word exists. Her independence and fearlessness are inspiring for her family and for the reader.