Caironama: A Bookseller's Chronicles

In 2002, Nadya Vassef, her sister Nihal, and their friend Hind founded Cairo’s first independent bookstore, Diwan. They were young and fearless; they had no business plan, but they also had no fear. Nadya, Nihal, and Hind still didn’t know what difficulties they would have to face.

In the years that followed, this trio experienced all the hardships of running a business in a patriarchal country: forging a path through harassment and discrimination, courting tyrannical bureaucrats, and dealing on the go with the rules of Egyptian censorship. And when Diwan finally achieved success (ten branches, more than a hundred employees, and countless fans), a revolution broke out in Egypt.

This story is an open, candid memoir and a daring business novel—a captivating account of modern Egypt and an unusual guide to Cairo. But above all, it is an inspiring story of overcoming any obstacles out of love for the business of a lifetime.