The Southern Obsession

About this book

A sheltered Cairo doctor knows Upper Egypt only through rumours when a false criminal accusation sends him unwillingly to Qena. Expecting violence and exile, he instead encounters faith, generosity, family honour, vengeance, loyalty, and criminal networks woven into a society more complex than any stereotype. As his assumptions collide with experience, the journey south becomes an inward reckoning with fear, inherited ideas, and the difficult search for truth in a world where tenderness and severity coexist.