Traces of Enayat

De: Iman Mersal, Robin Moger - translator

Narrado por: Jeed Saddy

"A subtle and universal exploration of identity." —Aida Alami, the New York Times

Cairo, 1963: four years before her lone novel is finally published, the writer Enayat al-Zayyat takes her own life at age twenty-seven. For the next three decades, it's as if Enayat never existed at all.

Years later, when celebrated Egyptian poet Iman Mersal stumbles upon Enayat's long-forgotten Love and Silence in a Cairo book stall, she embarks on a journey of reflection and rediscovery that leads her ever closer to the world and work of Enayat al-Zayyat.

In this luminous biographical detective story, Mersal retraces Enayat's life and afterlife though interviews with family members and friend, even tracking down the apartments, schools, and sanatoriums where Enayat spent her days. As Mersal maps two simultaneous psychogeographies—from the glamor of golden-age Egyptian cinema to the Cairo of Mersal's own past—a remarkable portrait emerges of two women striving to live on their own terms. With Traces of Enayat, Iman Mersal embraces the reciprocal relationship between a text and its reader, between past and present, between author and subject.

©Iman Mersal; English translation copyright 2023 by Robin Moger (P)2025 Tantor Media

Great story, average narration

Traces of Enayat is an evocative and deeply moving attempt to resurrect the life and spirit of Enayat al-Zayyat, a writer whose brilliance was lost too soon. Through this work, the author reconstructs Enayat’s struggles, her literary voice, and the weight of societal expectations that ultimately led to her tragic end. The book’s storyline is undeniably compelling, weaving together personal history, feminist discourse, and an insightful look into the literary world of mid-century Egypt. The book went on to win the most prestigious Arab literary Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2021.

However, the audiobook's narration does a disservice to the richness of the story. The delivery lacks the depth and emotional resonance that a tale of this magnitude demands. Rather than immersing the listener in Enayat’s world, the narration sometimes feels flat, and at odds with the poetic nature of the text. With a number of character, the lack of diversity in the delivery, makes it harder to engage fully with the book’s beautifully constructed themes.

For those interested in the story itself, Traces of Enayat is well worth exploring—but perhaps in print, where the prose can be appreciated.