Michael David Lukas: The Last Watchman of Old Cairo, 9780525511946, Spiegel & Grau (Penguin Random House USA) paperback

“The Last Watchman of Cairo” has a fairy tale like quality reminding me of the stories from thousand and one nights. The novel is set in the present but also has two other multigenerational stories running parallel, one around the turn of the first millennium and the other at the end of the 19th century when European archeologist discovered the magic of Egypt and Cairo. 

Lukas has written an entertaining story which captures the allure of the Middle East and the Old Cairo very beautifully; I really enjoyed this escapist novel read during warm summer days transporting me into the past.

Joseph is a literature student living in Berkeley with a mixed heritage, his mother Jewish descending from a small group of Jews from Old Cairo, his father a Muslim still living in Cairo.  He never shared a home with his father on a regularly basis, instead growing up in the US with his mother but visiting his Dad during summer holidays.  When his father dies, a package arrives from him prompting Joseph to start investigating his family’s conflicting background.  For many years the men in the al- Riqb family were the watchmen of the Ibn Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo although they themselves remained Muslim, guarding the Ezra Scrolls and other ancient documents. Joseph packs his bags and moves in with his uncle Hassan and his family in Cairo trying to learn more about his father’s life and the mysterious Ezra scrolls. 

The novel switches over to Ali, the first of the al-Riqb men to watch over the synagogue, an orphan around the turn of the millennium who is given a life time chance to improve his situation. He is quickly intrigued by the Ezra scrolls and the mysteries surroundings Jewish life.  The character of Ali and his coming of age was my favorite in the novel, his innocence totally enchanting.

The wealthy British sisters Agnes and Margret give the novel the third colorful story, both well known in academic circles but as women of their time unable to work as scholars.  In 1897 they embark on a trip from Cambridge to Cairo trying to rescue ancient Jewish text that have started to appear on the black market and soon learn of the Ezra scrolls.  

All three story lines are woven around the Ezra scroll mystery, coming together eventually guiding Joseph towards answers about his own heritage, his father’s and and mothers love and his own life choices.