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An enchanted ring brings good fortune to an Egyptian oud player in this compelling novel combining elements of magical realism with political history
Can one man or a mere ring alter the events of one’s life and the history of a country? Combining elements of magical realism with momentous history, Suleiman’s Ring poses these questions and more in a gripping tale of friendship, identity, and the fate of a nation.
Alexandria, Egypt, on the eve of the 1952 Free Officers revolution. Daoud, a struggling musician, is summoned with his best friend Sheikh Hassanein to a meeting with Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser, who seeks their help as he mobilizes for the revolution. Daoud lends Nasser an enchanted silver ring for its powers to bring good luck. The revolution succeeds but Daoud soon grows estranged from Hassanein, who has joined the Muslim Brotherhood, after he suggests that Daoud leave Egypt since as a Jew he is no longer welcome. When Hassanein is arrested, however, destiny draws Daoud into a complex web of sexual intrigue and betrayal that threatens to upend his already precarious existence.
Set against the backdrop of the simmering political tensions of mid-twentieth-century Egypt and the Arab–Israeli wars, Sherif Meleka’s story of fate and fortune transports us to another time and place while peeling back the curtain on events that still haunt the country to this day.
"A quality novel, which put me in mind of aspects of Rohinton Mistry and Naguib Mahfouz in the way it gives us characters to care about, who are then swept away by the chaos of history. The writing is pacy, but it has depth and poetic power – a credit to Raymond Stock’s translation from Arabic. Sherif Meleka is a natural writer. This is a compellingly readable novel of substance."—The Irish Times
“[A] dazzling epic novel. . . . poetic and beautiful. . . . deeply moving. . . . Suleiman’s Ring is a timely read, not just for its powerful depiction of Jews in modern Egypt, but for its exploration of themes of nationhood, societal divisions—both along political and identity lines—and the influence that individuals can have on an entire society.”—The Canadian Jewish News
"Original, carefully crafted, memorable"—Midwest Book Review
"A lovely evocation of the period."—Historical Novels Review
"Reading Suleiman’s Ring gave me great pleasure. With its many layers of tone and style, it takes the reader on a journey through modern-day Alexandria, recalling the loss of its essentially tolerant outlook, a tolerance that had lain at the heart of this great city’s renaissance."—Ibrahim Abdel Meguid, author of Clouds over Alexandria
"A powerful narration of extremism culminating in the tragic expulsion of the Egyptian Jews from modern Egypt."—Hamdi Abu Golayyel, author of The Men Who Swallowed the Sun
"Three generations of Egyptians are depicted elegantly, in the manner of an epic, and with deep historical insight."—al-Qahira
"Meleka masterfully blends the story of Suleiman [Solomon] and Dawud [David] with contemporary life, covering an important period in Egyptian history spanning more than thirty years, from the secret preparations of the Free Officers Movement in 1952 to the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981."—al-Ahali