The Palace of Longing - Naguib Mahfouz

The second part of Naguib Mahfouz's famous trilogy, which many critics and literary specialists consider the best and most important Arab novel. This part deals with the next phase after the 1919 revolution in the life of Mr. Ahmed Abdel Gawad's family, where Mr. Gawad isolated himself for five years after the martyrdom of his son "Fahmy," until he finally decided to come out of his isolation and resume staying up late at the house of "Zubaida" the scholar. There, he is surprised by "Zanuba," who has become a mature girl, and he falls in love with her and buys her a boat overlooking the Nile. At the same time, his eldest son "Yasin" loves her, entering his father's world from the back door, while "Kamal" lives a platonic love story for his beloved "Aida." The novel was published in 1957 and was adapted for the cinema in 1967.