Fatma Qandil; trans. Adam Talib
Empty Cages by Fatma Qandil, translated from the Arabic by Adam Talib, is a fictional memoir in the first-person voice of Fatima, the youngest child in a middle-class Egyptian family. The discovery of an old tin that once contained chocolates is the catalyst that triggers Fatima’s reflections of growing up with two older brothers, an alcohol-addicted father, and a loving and supportive mother.
Beginning in the 1960s to the present day, the novel unfolds in a series of vignettes that are in a non-linear sequence. They include snapshots of Fatima’s childhood, including her recollections of being molested as a child. She traces the gradual economic decline of the family; her father’s increasing addiction to alcohol until his death; the selfishness of her brothers, one of whom disappears in Germany for twenty years, and the other who reluctantly and irregularly sends money to support their mother’s cancer treatments. Throughout it all, Fatima struggles to complete her studies and fulfill her ambition of being a poet.
The diction is unflinchingly honest and candid. The style is confessional and intimate. Fatima identifies her brothers as selfish, narcissistic individuals who virtually abandon their widowed mother. She is well aware her father’s addiction is what dragged them into financial ruin. She is forced to rely on friends and family for help with her mother’s medical expenses.
One of the strengths of the novel is the depiction of Fatima’s relationship with her mother. It is a relationship built on unconditional love, mutual support, and a shared understanding of life’s struggles. They are totally and unequivocally devoted to one another. Fatima describes in graphic detail the challenges of being the sole caregiver to her mother as she battles cancer treatments of chemotherapy and radiation. She displays a herculean patience in treating her mother’s ailing and fragile body in need of constant attention and constant care. She describes the continuous vigil by her mother’s side, remembering to change her IV bag, her bandages, and her diaper. And she does it all with sensitivity and tenderness.
An accomplished poet, Fatma Qandil received the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2022. This, her debut novel, is at times lyrical, at times raw, but always engaging, sensitive, and genuine. Her determination to survive and to remain true to her voice is commendable. How much of this novel is autobiographical is unclear. But what is clear is Fatma Qandil has given her central character a narrative voice that authentically depicts what life is like for a woman struggling to survive in a misogynistic, patriarchal world.