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  • Published: 21 June 2022
  • ISBN: 9781635420647
  • Imprint: Other Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $35.00

Captain Ni'mat's Last Battle

A Novel




First published after the author’s death in 2008, this provocative novel charts the late-in-life sexual awakening of a retired air force pilot who begins a dangerous affair with a male servant.

Captain Ni’mat, a reservist from the Egyptian army defeated by the Israelis in 1967, finds himself aging and idle, spending his days at a luxurious private club in Cairo with former comrades. One night, Captain Ni’mat has an exquisite, chilling dream: he sees pure beauty in the form of his Nubian valet. Awakened by these searing images, he slips into the hut where the young man sleeps. The vision of his naked body so deeply disturbs Captain Ni’mat that his monotonous existence is suddenly turned upside down.
    Unbeknownst to his wife, he comes to know physical love with his valet. In a country where religious fundamentalism grows increasingly prevalent every day, this forbidden passion will lead him to the height of happiness, at least for a time.
 

  • Published: 21 June 2022
  • ISBN: 9781635420647
  • Imprint: Other Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $35.00

About the authors

Lara Vergnaud

Lara Vergnaud is a translator of prose, creative nonfiction, and scholarly works from the French. She is the recipient of two PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants and a French Voices Grand Prize, and has been nominated for the National Translation Award. Her recent translations include The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr (Other Press, 2023) and Demoiselles of Numidia by Mohamed Leftah (Other Press, 2023). She lives in France.

Praise for Captain Ni'mat's Last Battle

“Leftah is highly regarded in the francophone literary world (‘An observer of the abyss. A champion of delight’)…[Captain Ni’mat’s Last Battle is] a stylish and intelligent read…a landmark statement in Egypt’s exciting national conversation.” The Spectator