Author(s): Gamal Ghitany

General Fiction

Exploring the nature of memory and consciousness, Traces is an evocative examination of what remains of memories after forgetting has done its work. How do we keep track of people we encountered and who were dear to us, the women we loved and the places we visited? How do we extract those moments spent on nothing? How to avert the passage of time? Reaching his sixties, the narrator decides to write down the fragments of his memories and explore the traces they have left behind. Taking us back through the neighbourhoods of old Cairo, Traces describes scenes from the narrator's childhood, his encounters and travels, and the awakening of his senses.