The Completely True Tales of Um Mimi and Sharawi the Adulterer

A darkly comic coming-of-age story from Cairo’s shadowy alleys and smoky rooftops.

When a seventeen-year-old flees his abusive father to chase his dream of becoming a writer, he lands in a crumbling Cairo apartment with a chain-smoking landlady and her explosive son. What follows is a whirlwind of survival, misfits, late-night monologues, and the thin line between truth and fiction.

The Completely True Tales of Um Mimi and Sharawi the Adulterer is a sharp, hilarious, and deeply moving translated Arabic novel that lays bare the intimate lives of Cairo’s underclass in the 1990s. Originally published in Arabic and now longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, this cult favourite by Belal Fadl—one of Egypt’s most daring satirists—appears in English for the first time.

With biting humor and emotional depth, Fadl paints an unforgettable portrait of youth, class, and art in a decaying city, where love and betrayal are traded as fast as cigarettes. Translator Osama Hammad expertly captures the novel’s crackling wit, energy, and bruised tenderness.

For fans of Mohamed Choukri and Khairy Shalaby, this translated Arabic novel blends satire and sincerity in equal measure.