Prisoner of the Levant - (World Writing in French: New Archipelagoes) by Darina Al Joundi (Paperback)

About the Book

Cairo, 1920. In the cafés and the literary salons, the great minds of the Arab renaissance meet. Among them: May Ziadeh, pioneer of the Arab feminist movement and the love of Khalil Gibran's life. Celebrated by Cairo's literary world, May is unaware that she will soon lose everything and be fighting for her own freedom.

Book Synopsis

"I had a dream that women, all women, will hold their heads high, that women will work, that in their eyes we will no longer see fear or defeat or humiliation. That women will never again be shackled by society, or by circumstance, or by men. Instead we will see in the eyes of every woman a person fully in control of herself, and mistress of her own destiny."

Cairo, 1920. In the cafés and literary salons, the great minds of the Arab renaissance meet and share ideas. Among them is May Ziadeh, pioneer of the Arab feminist movement and the great love of Khalil Gibran's life. Intense and talented, May is celebrated by the greatest writers and thinkers of Cairo's literary world, who flock to her famous salon. Yet when a series of personal losses leave her vulnerable to plots against her, she is abandoned by those she believed would protect her. Stripped of her everything and imprisoned against her will, May is left fighting for the most basic right: freedom.

In Prisoner of the Levant, Darina Al Joundi offers a moving account of May Ziadeh's desire for emancipation and enlightenment, and an indictment of a world that does not allow women to be free.

About the Author

Helen Vassallo is Associate Professor of French and Translation at the University of Exeter.