Sayyidah al-Fandaqسيّدة الفندق

Translated to Arabic, «Motherland Hotel», an outstanding novel by Turkish novelist and dramatist Yusuf Atilgan (1921-1989). Originally published in Turkish in 1973 under the title «Anayurt Oteli».

Summary: Zebercet, the last surviving member of a once prosperous Ottoman family, is the owner of the Motherland Hotel, a run-down establishment near the railroad station. A lonely, middle-aged introvert, his simple life is structured by daily administrative tasks and regular, routine sex with the hotel's maid. One day, a beautiful woman from the capital comes to spend the night, promising to return «next week,» and suddenly Zebercet's insular, mechanical existence is dramatically and irrevocably changed. The mysterious woman's presence has tantalized him, and he begins to live his days in fevered anticipation of her return. But the week passes, and then another, and as his fantasies become more and more obsessive, Zebercet gradually loses his grip on reality.