‘THIS IS WHAT HOPE LOOKS LIKE’: REVIEW OF AHDAF SOUEIF’S CAIRO, MY CITY, OUR REVOLUTION (London: Bloomsbury, 2012). It’s not difficult to find a timeline or an article that gives an outline of the Egyptian revolution, but if you want to understand what animated hundreds of thousands of ordinary Egyptians to take to the streets and overthrow a brutal and corrupt regime, then this is a book to read. Ahdaf Soueif provides an insider’s eye-witness account of the 18 days in 2011 when people in their tens or hundreds of thousands occupied Tahrir Square, in the centre of her beloved Cairo, and collectively helped to turn the wheel of history. For South African readers the book will evoke poignant memories of those far-off days in 1990 and 1994 when our own hopes for a peaceful, just and democratic future seemed about to be realised. What was it that allowed the ‘soft’ revolutionaries of Tahrir to change their world? This book helps to supply an answer (although it’s not couched in political science terms). It provides an engaged participant’s account of what is felt like to be in Cairo at that time. It is of coursea partisan account, but the author is a partisan for what is best in our common humanity; she subscribes to values that many readers will identify with. She pays generous tribute to the younger generation (the shabab) whose courage and optimism and self-belief were the driving force behind this remarkably peaceful revolution; she also honours the martyrs (the shuhada) who lost their lives in the struggle. The book is divided into three sections. The first and third sections give a vivid account of the 18 days in 2011 that changed Egypt forever, starting with 25 January (the ‘Day of Revolt’), and culminating in the ‘Friday of Departure’ (11 February) which saw Mubarak’s resignation. The narrative explains the significance of Midan el-Tahrir (‘our Holy Grail for forty years’) and why it became the source of legitimacy. It describes an unfolding process that was partly organised, and partly spontaneous, driven by the demand for ‘bread’, ‘freedom’ and ‘social justice’. It was a largely leaderless revolution (or pro-democracy movement) that saw a coming together of people from all walks of life in Tahrir. The author’s son, Omar, says to her at one point, ‘Would you have imagined the revolution would look like this?’ Her narrative conveys something of the remarkableness of these events, and underlines their inclusive, non-violent nature. Interwoven with the greater narrative is the story of her own ‘politically engaged’ extended family. This more personal narrative foregrounds her memories of her mother and father, of her familial homes, and of an earlier, pre-Mubarak Cairo. The young ‘third generation’ of her family are ‘more clever and cool and effective than we ever were (partly a result of their astute use of internet connectivity). ‘They are going to change the world. We follow them and pledge what’s left of our lives to their effort.’ As these events unfolded the author (who is also a well-known novelist – The Map of Love was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1999) was much in demand by the international media as a commentator. Her narrative is characterised by a modesty and generosity: it is one person’s moving testimony to the events that changed her world (and our world, too!). The book is, in effect, part of her fight to preserve the revolution. Her narrative concludes (on 31 October) with a recognition that the revolution has not yet succeeded, and that its gains are still threatened by the remnants of the old regime. Will the army (whose refusal to fire on the protestors was so crucial) in fact surrender power? It is (as she acknowledges) an unfinished story, but for Ahdaf Soueil, ‘optimism is a duty’: if the shahab had not believed change was possible, and occupied Tahrir, nothing would have happened! Perhaps there are lessons that South Africans, living in our disappointing and fractious present, might do well to heed? [Published in The Sunday Independent 27 May 2012]