“Midnight in Cairo is a fizzing tale of an underexplored period.”—Financial Times
“An utterly unique book, teeming with vividly recounted stories, at times hilarious and at time tragic. These were true feminists avant la lettre who defied the societal norms and authorities of their time, both in Egypt and abroad. This inspiring gem of a book gripped me from beginning to end.”—Hanan al-Shaykh, author of Women of Sand and Myrrh
“Insightful and fascinating … Cormack highlights an important period in Egypt’s modern history – almost unknown in the West – when its cosmopolitan culture was characterized by a tolerance of all races and religions … This is a must-read.”—Alaa al-Aswany, author of The Yacoubian Building
“A book full of surprises. A lively story of women shaping gender, class, money, and national liberation.”― Ahdaf Soueif, author of Cairo: Memoir of a City Transformed
“This sparkling account casts the history of the Egyptian capital in a new light.”—Publishers Weekly
“A vibrant history of Cairo’s women-dominated cultural landscape between the wars … A lively and original story of modern Egypt told through the lives of its first generation of women celebrities.”
—Kirkus Review
“Highly readable … An engaging social history that touches on issues of freedom ad liberation, issues that still resonate today.”—Library Journal
Were the divas of Egypt’s roaring 20’s also pioneers of Egyptian feminism?
A conversation with Raphael Cormack and Andrew Parasiliti for Al-Monitor
Raphael Cormack has a PhD in Egyptian theater from the University of Edinburgh and is currently a visiting researcher at Columbia University.
He is an award-winning editor and translator and has written on Arabic culture for the London Review of Books and elsewhere. His first book is Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt’s Roaring ’20s (AUC Press, 2021).
Click here to read more about the book.
Available in Egypt through the AUC Bookstores and all other good local bookstores.
