Soma Nami’s Books in Review
By Wendy Njoroge
Wendy Njoroge reviews If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga.
If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
Imagine a globally defining event as a setting—Egypt, soon after the revolution. Pair that with a highly experimental yet deeply readable narrative style, and top it off with a plot that twists as quickly as a Chakacha dancer. What do you get? If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga, a magnum opus (I know it’s a debut, but I will go out on a limb and pronounce it all the same).
The story opens with Noor (a character who shares her name with the book’s author—something you might want to consider as you read and assess its significance), an American woman of Egyptian heritage. She embarks on a journey to Cairo to reconnect with her Egyptian roots. Her parents, who emigrated and assimilated into American culture, are less than thrilled. Although they support her trip financially and with connections that secure her a comfortable apartment and short-term job, they hope she’ll quickly realize the real Cairo is not the one she imagines, and return to American comforts.
Upon arrival, Noor discovers that her Arabic is clumsy and almost unintelligible. Her mannerisms and attire immediately mark her as a foreigner. Still, she is determined to immerse herself in Egyptianness and make up for missing the revolution.
Enter a boy from Shobrakheit, a rural town in Northern Egypt. A former revolutionary (he was a photographer in service of the revolution), he’s now disillusioned, poor, and battling addiction. He becomes her guide as she attempts to understand the city’s complexities. What unfolds between them is an increasingly toxic relationship, escalating into tragedy as their desires and interests first align, then clash.
The novel is divided into three parts, each with a unique format: the first is presented in a question-and-answer style, the second in a notarized narrative, and the third in a theatre-like, writing workshop style. This structural innovation makes the book unlike anything I’ve ever read.
I can promise you a few things about this book: you will embark on a journey to Egypt, exploring both Cairo and Shobrakheit through a deeply subjective lens. You’ll find yourself drawn into the plot, likely taking a side in the conflict, and by the end, you’ll be compelled to reconsider your chosen allegiance.
With If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, Noor Naga reinvents the idea of what a novel can be, breaking every rule and emerging with a masterpiece.
Noor Naga is an Alexandrian writer and the author of a verse novel, Washes, Prays. She is a winner of the Bronwen Wallace Award, the RBC/PEN Canada Award, and the Disquiet Fiction Prize. Noor was born in Philadelphia, raised in Dubai, studied in Toronto, and currently lives in Alexandria, Egypt, where she teaches at the American University in Cairo.
You can find “If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English” and many more titles at Soma Nami Books (above), an independent, pan-African bookstore in Nairoibi with locations in Kilimani and Ngara. https://www.somanami.co.ke/