Mahfouz, Naguib

New York. 1991. January 1991. Doubleday. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0385264674. Translated from the Arabic by William Maynard Hutchins. Lorne M. Kenny & Olive E. Kenny. 425 pages. hardcover. Jacket photograph - Culver Pictures. Jacket design by Carin Goldberg. keywords: Literature Translated Egypt Arabic. FROM THE PUBLISHER - With PALACE OF DESIRE, the eagerly awaited second volume of the trilogy, the master storyteller spins a sensual, provocative tale, following the family into the awakening world of the 1920s, where increased freedoms prove as troubling as domination and repression once did. Here we find al-Sayyid Ahmad, the stern and aging patriarch, pursuing the sexually alluring dancer Zanuba - only to find that she has secretly married his son Yasin. His long-suffering wife Amina, and daughters Khadija and the radiant Aisha, test the loosening reins of societal and paternal control, even as they protect and nurture their own children. And Kamal, the idealistic youngest son, ardently courts the sophisticated daughter of a rich Europeanized family, in one of the most moving portrayals of unrequited love in literature. Like PALACE WALK, PALACE OF DESIRE affords a fascinating look at a period of modern Egyptian history by lovingly and painstakingly examining the day-to-day lives of a single family. More important, however, is that it is a deeply human, enormously entertaining novel that takes us to the very heart of a family's existence; ‘we get to know these people,' wrote the Chicago Tribune, ‘as we know few people in our own lives.' Filled with compelling drama and earthy humor, and as lyrically evocative as the street that gives the novel its title, PALACE OF DESIRE is an unforgettable story of the sometimes violent clash between ideals and longings, dreams and realities. inventory #9197 ISBN: 0385264674.