Cairo Chronicles of a Bookshop Owner

In 2002, Nadia Wassef, her sister Nihal, and their friend Hind founded the first independent bookstore Diwan in Cairo. They were young and fearless, with no business plan, but also no fear. Nadia, Nihal, and Hind did not yet know the challenges they would face. In the following years, this trio experienced all the hardships of running a business in a patriarchal country: navigating through harassment and discrimination, courting despotic bureaucrats, and figuring out the rules of Egyptian censorship as they went along. When Diwan finally achieved success (with ten branches, over a hundred employees, and many fans), a revolution broke out in Egypt. This book is a candid memoir and a daring business novel, an engaging story of modern Egypt, and an unusual guide to Cairo, but above all - an inspiring tale of overcoming any obstacles in pursuit of a lifelong passion.