The Golden ChariotFrom her cell in a women's prison, Aziza decides to create a golden chariot to take her to heaven, where her wishes and dreams can be fulfilled. As she muses on who to take with her, she tells the life stories of her fellow prisoners and decides in her heart which ones deserve a free ride to paradise. Aziza's cruelly frank comments about her friends and their various crimes--including murder, theft, and drug-dealing--weave these tales together into a contemporary Arabian Nights. Salwa Bakr takes a wry and cynical look at how women from widely differing backgrounds, some innocent and some guilty, come together in a single prison ward. Salwa Bakr's writing depicts life at the grassroots of Egypt's culture, admiring its resilience in the face of poverty and inequality. With a strong distrust of imported kitsch, western consumerism is contrasted with the indigenous culture. In The Golden Chariot, Salwa Bakr opens a magical door, through which we are able to see the injustices of a society in transition. Beyond these stories of crime, we glimpse the yearning and longing for a better life, and the problems of not being able to realize these dreams by honest means. |
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 35 |
Section 3 | 71 |
Section 4 | 99 |
Section 5 | 113 |
Section 6 | 139 |
Section 7 | 163 |
Section 8 | 183 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abdel Halim Hafez Aida Aida's amongst asked Azima Aziza beautiful became began body bought boys brother Cairo cats cell clothes colour considered convinced daughter death decided discovered doctor door dream drug extremely eyes face falafel fate father feelings felt fenugreek flautist gave golden chariot hair hand happy head heart heaven Hinna husband Jamalat killed knew lived look lover Lula Mahrousa Mamluk marriage married memory mother murder Nadira Naguib Mahfouz neighbour never night nightwatchman pain passion piece police problems Qur'an rabbit red shoes relationship Safiyya secret sentence shoes Silent Shafiqa sister sleep smile someone soul stepfather story suffered Tawfiq al-Hakim thought told took torment tried Umm Abdel Aziz Umm El-Khayr Umm Ragab voice wanted ward warders washing window woman women women's prison young girl zar ceremonies Zaynab