The Family of Asr Bek

About this book

"Asr Bek Building": here, where the past did not die but acquired a new layer of mystery. In the heart of Cairo groaning under the weight of its crowded history, stands "Asr Bek Building" as a silent witness. Not merely a structure of brick and cement, it is a spiritual archive of a family that carried a name as heavy as history itself, veiling behind its grand facade an old secret kept prisoner behind closed rooms and decades of friendship with the Khedive. What bound Asr Bek to that high court? And what is the secret he insisted on burying in silence, preferring silence over confession to Hamdan Pasha despite ten years of companionship? That is the beginning... but the building's stories know no end. As generations succeed and the masters of the house change, the essence of the conflict remains human. Time carries us swiftly from the whispers of pashas to the meetings of the contemporary board of directors, where the fates of those caught in the whirlpool of life are discussed. Shahd, wife of the late doorman, stands alone before a cruel fate, trying to preserve her dignity and the livelihood of her son — while the building watches, as it has always watched, how the sons sell the dignity of those who cannot afford its price. A family saga where the building is the real protagonist and history the tenant who never leaves.