SHELF LIFE

In 2002, Wassef and her two sisters opened a bookstore they called Diwan on the outskirts of Cairo. Her country was in political turmoil, and citizens had little interest in reading and writing. As she writes in this engaging and heartwarming memoir, “starting a bookstore at this moment of cultural atrophy seemed impossible—and utterly necessary.” On International Women’s Day, they opened their groundbreaking bookstore/cafe, stocking Arabic, English, and some French and German titles, later adding films, music, and stationery. It served as an oasis on a hot, traffic-choked street, the author’s “love letter to Egypt.” The women had a lot to learn about the business of selling books in a price-sensitive market: hardcover vs. paperback; data entry and other administrative tasks; hiring—and firing—staff; what makes a good display; customer relations in a masculine world; that a bookstore isn’t a library and must turn a profit. Women began to see Diwan as a place of refuge, and tourists visited. Wassef added space for an office, merchandise, bestseller displays, and a special Egypt Essentials section, and the staff puzzled over discounts, net prices, short ships, and censorship challenges—e.g., stocking Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef. In 2007, they opened their second branch. “Then,” she writes, “we drifted from the black into the unfamiliar red. We were in the throes of a global recession.” New art and design, self-help, and how-to sections helped. At the height of their success, they had 16 stores (and closed six). This is much more than a bookseller’s story. Wassef discusses Egyptian history, politics, and culture. She learned that bookselling is like “marriage and football. While a fair amount of skill is needed, it’s more about fate, and luck.” The first five years were “chaos,” the next five frustrating, the last five “just painful,” as she juggled a career, children, and two divorces.