Coming down to the house of the elders

Nazlat Dar Al-Akaber is a historical novel by Tunisian novelist Amira Ghanem. It addresses an incident that cast its shadow over two families from Dar Al-Akaber during the first half of the twentieth century. The novel was nominated and reached the short list for the Arab Booker Prize "The International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2022" and was published by Maskilyani Publishing and Distribution as part of a distinguished series of Arabic novels. A brief about the novel Nazlat Dar Al-Akaber: This novel skillfully captures important turning points in contemporary Tunisian history, and sometimes even its current history. It becomes a quest for lineage and the secrets of "Al-Baldiyya," signaling a search for identity, the meaning of homeland, and its history. However, it is a different history written through an imaginary story whose hero is the great reformer Tahar Haddad. Although historical references do not mention anything about Haddad’s relationship with women except his fierce defense of them, the novelist firmly asserts, through the power of imagination, that he loved "Lalla Zubayda." Therefore, the reader will not see in the future a biography of Haddad without his beloved Zubayda. This is the magic of fictional storytelling, and historians would have to disprove the novelists if they find a way to a document or testimony — and how could they? I have often compared the untold story of Tunisia to a magnificent mosaic of its richness and uniqueness. I strongly believe that Amira Ghanem’s novel, as it narrates a part of our Tunisian story with skill and deep knowledge, will undoubtedly occupy an excellent place within the canon of Arabic storytelling. As it presents our story, it gives women the highest voice to narrate chapters of the country’s secret history. Are they not the true keepers of memory and the ones who expose miserable masculinity?