June 2nd sees the anticipated release of Basma Abdel Aziz’s debut novel The Queue. Translated by Elisabeth Jaquette, this satirical Orwellian dystopia is set against the backdrop of a failed political uprising within a surreal but all too familiar vision of modern day Egypt.
In the aftermath of the Disgraceful Events – an incredibly tumultuous and violent time in which protestors tried and failed to overthrow the government – a totalitarian force called the Gate have gained complete control of the country. As a result citizens are required to obtain permission from the Gate in order to carry out the most basic of daily tasks, although the Gate never actually opens and the queue grows longer and longer.
The queue is comprised of a vast array of people who would not ordinarily cross paths. Among them is Yehia, a man shot during the uprising, who is queueing to ask permission to have the bullet that remains lodged in his pelvis removed. As Yehia’s health steadily declines the officials refuse to assist him, to the point of denying the very existence of the bullet.
It is down to Tarek, the principled doctor tending to Yehia’s case, who must decide whether to follow protocol as he has always done or disobey the law and risk his career to save a man’s life.
Written with dark, subtle humour, The Queue is a sinister read that illuminates contemporary concerns on authoritarian leadership and the ability to manipulate the truth with power.
You can order the novel on Amazon.
Basma Abdel Aziz is a psychiatrist, writer, and sculptor. Born in Cairo, Egypt, she holds a BA in medicine and surgery, an MS in neuropsychiatry and a diploma in sociology. Her first short story collection, May God Make it Easy, won the 2008 Sawiris Cultural Award, and her second, The Boy Who Disappeared, won the 2008 General Organization of Cultural Palaces Award. In 2009 she received the Ahmed Bahaa-Eddin Award for young researchers for her book Temptation of Absolute Power, a sociological study exposing the effects of police violence on citizens in Egypt. She works for the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture and the General Secretariat of Mental Health and is a weekly columnist for Egypt’s al-Shorouk newspaper. Her debut novel, The Queue, has been translated by Elisabeth Jaquette and is available 2nd June 2016.
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