{"product_id":"9780399181160","title":"The Last Watchman of Old Cairo: A Novel","description":"\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003eIn this “wonderfully rich” (\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e) novel, a young man journeys from California to Cairo to unravel centuries-old family secrets.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNamed One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2018 by \u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Joseph, a literature student at Berkeley, is the son of a Jewish mother and a Muslim father. One day, a mysterious package arrives on his doorstep, pulling him into a mesmerizing adventure to uncover the tangled history that binds the two sides of his family. For generations, the men of the al-Raqb family have served as watchmen of the storied Ibn Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo, built at the site where the infant Moses was taken from the Nile. Joseph learns of his ancestor Ali, a Muslim orphan who nearly a thousand years earlier was entrusted as the first watchman of the synagogue and became enchanted by its legendary—perhaps magical—Ezra Scroll. The story of Joseph’s family is entwined with that of the British twin sisters Agnes and Margaret, who in 1897 depart their hallowed Cambridge halls on a mission to rescue sacred texts that have begun to disappear from the synagogue.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Last Watchman of Old Cairo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eis a moving page-turner of a novel from acclaimed storyteller Michael David Lukas. This tightly woven multigenerational tale illuminates the tensions that have torn communities apart and the unlikely forces—potent magic, forbidden love—that boldly attempt to bridge that divide.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eThe Last Watchman of Old Cairo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A beautiful, richly textured novel, ambitious and delicately crafted, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Watchman of Old Cairo\u003c\/i\u003e is both a coming-of-age story and a family history, a wide-ranging book about fathers and sons, religion, magic, love, and the essence of storytelling. This book is a joy.”\u003cb\u003e—Rabih Alameddine, author of the National Book Award finalist \u003ci\u003eAn Unnecessary Woman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Lyrical, compassionate and illuminating.”\u003cb\u003e—BBC\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Michael David Lukas has given us an elegiac novel of Cairo—Old Cairo and modern Cairo. Lukas’s greatest flair is in capturing the essence of that beautiful, haunted, shabby, beleaguered yet still utterly sublime Middle Eastern city.”\u003cb\u003e—Lucette Lagnado, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Man in the White Sharkskin Suit\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Arrogant Years\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Lukas writes marvelously about Old Cairo, a city he cherishes. . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Last Watchman of Old Cairo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003edelivers in polyphonic textures a timeless yet contemporary story set in ancient and modern Cairo and Berkeley.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe San Jose Mercury News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Random House Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47025147740400,"sku":"9780399181160","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780399181160_p0.jpg?v=1763698612","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780399181160","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}