The Pistachio Seller

Author’s Note

161 Author’s Note Places and events in this story will be familiar to those familiar with Egypt, but they may be puzzling to American readers. The name Sally is an Egyptian name as well as an English one (Nora is another). Sally’s second marriage is a common-law marriage. Commonlaw marriages are usually secretive and not registered by the government and can be done privately with only two witnesses. Marital rights for women, such as the right of inheritance, are not guaranteed in such a marriage. The story unfolds in Damanhour, a small town in the Behaira Province ; in Alexandria; and in Cairo, where some of the characters live in the upper-class residential district of Zamalek and some in the poorer Imbaba district. There is also a scene in Muhandiseen, a rich quarter of Cairo popular with gulf Arabs and foreigners. Wafaa works in Alexandria, and some scenes take place in Sidi Jabir, an old quarter of that city, where the train station and the international call center are located. Mention is made of a few popular artists of the time. Abdal-haleem Haafiz was a famous 1960s Egyptian singer who died in his forties. At least two women were reported to have committed suicide upon hearing the news of his death. The Egyptian singer Umm Kulthoum (1904–1975) was perhaps the most famous entertainer of the Arab world. One could compare her popularity to that of Elvis Presley. Mohammed Tharwat is a modern singer who comes from the provincial city of Tanta. Readers might not be familiar with some aspects of Egyptian history. The Egyptian revolution took place on July 23, 1952. Three days later, the king was forced to abdicate and leave the country. Nasser took over power in 1954. Aunt Aliyya mentions “burying girls alive,” which was a custom 162  A u t h o r ’ s N o t e in pre-Islamic Egypt for poor families in Bedouin communities, who were afraid of the shame a girl would bring, especially because of poverty. The practice is explicitly forbidden in the Koran, and it ceased after the spread of Islam in the Arabian peninsula. “Kassim” is the greedy brother in the traditional story English readers know as “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.” In the story, Ali Baba opened the secret door of the cave by hearing the secret words said by the thieves. He then took some of the treasure inside the cave and left by uttering the secret words again. His brother Kassim tried to do the same, except he was too greedy and decided to take all the treasure. He died at the hands of the thieves. There are different versions of the story. Jew’s mallow is a green soup made with chicken or rabbit stock and a plant of the same name that is similar to spinach. It is a dish particular to Egypt. Pistachios are the most expensive nuts in Egypt. They are usually exported from abroad. They were very rare in the 1980s when, after President Sadat’s death in 1980, the Egyptian government banned imports. The aim of this ban was to change the open-door policy encouraged by Sadat. It was therefore a luxury to eat pistachios, offer them to guests, or cook with them. Nowadays, after the strong capitalism movement of the 1990s, pistachios in Egypt are not rare, but they are still very expensive. Other titles from Middle East Literature in Translation A Brave New Quest: 100 Modern Turkish Poems Talat S. Halman, trans. and ed., Jayne L. Warner, assoc. ed. A Child from the Village Sayyid Qutb; John Calvert and William Shepard, eds. and trans. Canceled Memories: A Novel Nazik Saba Yared Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: An Anthology Shakir Mustafa, ed. and trans. Distant Train: A Novel Ibrahim Abdel Megid; Hosam M. Aboul-Ela, trans. I, Anatolia and Other Plays: An Anthology of Modern Turkish Drama, Volume Two Talat S. Halman and Jayne L. Warner, eds. İbrahim the Mad and Other Plays: An Anthology of Modern Turkish Drama, Volume One Talat S. Halman and Jayne L. Warner, eds. The Journals of Sarab Affan: A Novel Jabra Ibrahim Jabra; Ghassan Nasr, trans. My Thousand and One Nights: A Novel of Mecca Raja Alem and Tom McDonough Sleeping in the Forest: Stories and Poems Sait Faik; Talat S. Halman, ed., Jayne L. Warner, assoc. ed. The Virgin of Solitude: A Novel Taghi...