Noah's Ark

In his novel, bestselling author Chalid al-Chamissi tells the intertwined fates of people who have emigrated from Egypt or plan to do so due to a lack of prospects. A young law graduate cannot find a job suitable for his qualifications and seeks his fortune in a sham marriage with an American woman. Meanwhile, his ex-fiancée is pressured by her parents to marry an Egyptian who runs a restaurant in New Jersey. The restaurant's cook, who has illegally entered the USA after an odyssey through South America, becomes involved with a shady Egyptian businessman whose son leads a lavish life in London. Also included are a philosophy professor at a British university, whose cousin nearly drowns while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, a young Nubian from Aswan, a cunning human smuggler, a Coptic doctor, and a prostitute. A place on Noah's Ark represents their chance for a better life.