Toya

Ashraf El-Ashmawi

Toya

The year is 1970. The funeral of the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser is being held. Youssef, son of famous skin specialist Kamal Naguib, is in medical college. Shortly after the death of the President, Youssef’s father also passes away, and so he goes to Liverpool, the birth place of his English mother, to continue his medical studies. His mother wants him to marry Katherine, an aristocratic English girl, and remain in England but he travels to Kenya to do research into treatments for leprosy. While living there he meets Toya, a woman belonging to the Kikuyu tribe. The author of Toya, Ashraf El-Ashmawy, describes a gentle love story between two people who belong to completely different worlds and makes us ask questions about the true nature of identity, belonging and loyalty and the extent of humanity's need for these principles.

Nomination

2013 Longlist