Naima
Short story about the relationship between a young Arab boy in Egypt and the family maid in the aftermath of his mother’s death.
"Nuri, habibi," his mother said, speaking his name with careful affection, "why the long face?" In the morning, any sudden sound unsettled her. She muffled the impact of her water glass on marble with the soft tip of her little finger. Hisham Matar on the immigrant family's architecture of silence.