Aboud Gerges is forced to emigrate from Egypt, leaving behind his wife Maram and their only son Majid. He sends them insufficient funds through his old friend, the artist Mahra Abdel Jalil, who has separated from her husband Mustafa Nour El-Din, an army officer. Mahra retires from art, wears a veil, and loses her life savings in a financial venture. Mustafa is sent to early retirement as a victim of military relaxation since October was the last war, and he finds refuge only in the mosque. Faces from the Egyptian struggle journey. Exiles in an unknown abroad and strangers in an uncertain home. Creatures appear to us through a tale of loss, for which everyone pays the price, sharing stories, guiding us to Egypt's backstreets, and revealing the unspoken in the Egyptian scene. Here lies the complex relationship between Muslims and Copts, an absent issue in Egyptian fiction despite its overflow in real life in Egypt, resurfacing through the voices of the defeated. "The Division of Strangers" is a novel engaging with current Egypt through a writing style not lacking the courage to confront. It presents a fresh approach, trying to get close to the fractures of the spirit that afflicted Egyptians and posed the frightening question: what brought us to the final square? What has put the future of this country behind it, turning it into fragments and ruins of what was?

• Publishing house: Dar Al-Saqi for Publishing and Distribution
• Number of Pages: 272
• Year of publication: 2004