First published in English in 1974, 'Midaq Alley' is a rich account of life in a back street in a poor quarter of Cairo, focusing particularly on a young girl whose ambition to leave the cramped alley and lead an affluent life drives her to become a prostitute. Mahfouz gives us vivid images of all the pathos and joy that surround the lives of the people who make Midaq Alley their home.