One of many posts originally written for a now long dead livejournal account.

Palace of Desire: The Cairo Trilogy, Volume 2
Nagib Mafouz

Palace of Desire is slower than the Palace Walk. The chapters are longer, as if the pace of the novel reflected the pace of mid-life. Major event continue to sneak up on us, and like in Palace Walk, we’re caught totally unaware when a major tragedy befalls the family. In this volume the characters Mafouz created in the first volume grow up and start to get old. Some of the characters are almost cartoons meeting each new event with exactly the same response, while others are changing and developing in way we don’t expect.

It’s a great book, Mafouz is a great writer. If you liked Palace of Desire, you’ll be pleased with this one.

Recommended.