The completion of Khan al-Khalili in 1945 marked a turning point in
Naguib Mahfouz's career. Departing from the traditional themes drawn
from Egyptian antiquity that characterize the author's earlier works,
Khan al-Khalili reflects instead a deep concern with the lives and
problems of contemporary Egyptians. The time is 1942, the Second World
War is at its height, and the Africa Campaign is raging along the
northern coast of Egypt as far as El Alamein. Against this backdrop of
international upheaval, the novel tells the story of the Akifs, a
middle-class family that has taken refuge in Cairo's historic and
bustling Khan al-Khalili neighborhood. Believing that the German forces
will never bomb such a famously religious part of the city, they seek
safety among the crowded alleyways, busy cafés, and ancient mosques of
the Khan, adjacent to the area where Mahfouz himself spent much of his
young life. Through the eyes of Ahmad, the eldest Akif son and the
novel's central character, Mahfouz presents a richly textured vision of
the Khan, drawing on his own memories to assemble a lively cast of
characters whose world is framed by the sights, smells, and flavors of
his childhood home. As Ahmad, a minor civil servant who has sacrificed
both education and personal ambition in order to support his family,
interacts with the people and traditions of Khan al-Khalili, a debate
emerges that pits old against new, history against modernity, and faith
against secularism. Addressing one of the fundamental questions of the
modern era, Mahfouz asks whether, like the German bombs that threaten
Khan al-Khalili daily, progress must necessarily be accompanied by the
destruction of the past. Fans of Midaq Alley, The Beginning and the End,
and The Cairo Trilogy will not want to miss this engaging and sensitive
portrayal of a family at the crossroads of the old world and the new.
