Monday February 15th at 7 p.m. we relaunched the Book Club at the House with a reading of “Zeina” a novel by Dr. Nawal El Saadawi. Originally written in Arabic,  it was first published in french to later on be published in its original language.

Zeina is the story of an “illegitimate” child who grows up to be an artist – however the novel is multi-layered covering many issues imbued from Egyptian society. It is the story of a neighborhood in Egypt, transitioning from kingdom to republic, and that delves into the fusion of contradicting ideologies.

The novel combines issues of  patriarchy, revolution, perversion. Its main themes fall under masculinity v/s femininity and poverty v/s wealth.

The book reading was stimulating and has brought up discussions about the phallus in El-Saadawi’s literature, patriarchy, family lineage, and physical abuse.