Children of the Alley is an incredible collection of stories about the lives of the descendants of an Egyptian man, Gabalawi, who takes on God-like significance as his children populate the alley that grows up surrounding his gated mansion. The novel was originally published in Arabic in 1959, under the title Awlad haratina. The English version, published in 1996, was translated by Peter Theroux.
The novel is broken into five distinct "stories," each focused on the life of one member of the Gabalawi family or his descendants. The first story introduces Gabalawi himself, and his cruel sense of justice which ultimately banishes both of his sons into the desert surrounding the mansion. This sets the stage for the evolution of the alley and the feuds that would eventually develop between the sons and their own families as they seek out ways to return to the ideal of life as it had been lived inside the estate gates.
Mahfouz weaves a lovely tale following successive generations through their triumphs and sufferings, exploring the importance of hope and spirituality, morals, justice and a people's sense of history in the face of constant opression by gangs. Each story focuses on the emergence of a "savior" who delivers the alley's residents from the evil gang rulers, establishing peaceful, prosperous eras. But, after each great savior dies, the people of the alley inevitably fall back into the greed and power lust that leads them back into gang rule.
In this portrayal of the cyclical nature of the alley, Mahfouz makes a bold statement about a people that praises their heroes through songs and poetry, yet who never actually retain the lessons taught by those heroes.
An engrossing novel, Children of the Alley will entrance you with its prose-like qualities, which fashion a history as beautiful and intricate as the designs on a Persian carpet. With such a talent for evocative description, it is easy to see why Mahfouz was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.
