An astounding portrait of modern Cairo, of bribery and corruption, of love and despair, of opportunities sought and contradictions found, all hung around the occupants of a dilapidated department building. It has been a bestseller in the Arab world for four years and certainly deserves to be one over here too. A very impressive work.
Comparison: Ahdaf Soueif, Naguib Mafouz, Orhan Pamuk.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Recommendations: |
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Closing date: 04/07/2026
The Yacoubian Building – once grand, but now dilapidated – stands on one of Cairo's main boulevards. Taha, the doorman's son, has aspirations beyond the slum in the skies, and dreams of one day becoming a policeman. He studies hard, and passes all the exams, but when he is rejected because his family is neither rich nor influential, the bitterness sets in. His girlfriend, Busayna, finds herself unable to earn a living without also providing sexual services for the men who hire her. When Taha seeks solace in a student Islamic organisation, the pressure mounts, and he is drawn to actions with devastating consequences.
‘The Yacoubian Building’ follows Taha's trajectory from innocence to tragedy. The people whose lives orbit his – the inhabitants of the building – are also facing their own difficult choices. From those living in squalid and cramped conditions on the rooftops, to the homosexual editor of Le Caire newspaper and a womanising aristocrat, all of the contradictions in Egyptian society are here. Religious feelings live side by side with promiscuity; bribery and exploitation alternate with moments of joy and elation; modernity clashes with the vision of a more ancient society.
Alaa Al Aswany's mesmerising novel caused an unprecedented stir when it was published in Egypt. It is at once an impassioned celebration and a ruthless dissection of a society dominated by bribery and corruption.
The Yacoubian Building features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Book Club Recommendations, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
The Yacoubian Building is available in Paperback
The Yacoubian Building was written by Alaa Al Aswany and published by Harpercollins Publishers
The Yacoubian Building has 255 pages
£8.99
