Harriett Gilbert talks to acclaimed Egyptian writer Alaa Al-Aswany about his bestselling novel The Yacoubian Building.
It was the Arab world’s number-one bestseller for five years running after it was published in 2002.
The Yacoubian Building interweaves the stories of a group of diverse characters who live and work in downtown Cairo.
A moving study of politics and power, sex and revenge - centred on the apartment building - the Yacoubian building, which still stands in Cairo today.
The novel offers a compelling yet daringly scathing portrayal of modern Egypt since the Revolution of 1952.