The Last Watchman of Old Cairo is about a quest that spans several centuries and many generations. The investigation, and the journey, are both literal and philosophical and characters are incidental to the story even while being important in it. Histories, religions and destinies intersect, and parts played individually or collectively determine the future for centuries to come.
This mix of fact and fiction unfolds in three strands of which only one is set in the present and told in the first person. The other two are from different timelines, and while it is the present that moves the narrative to its conclusion, it is the ones from the past that impart a sense of urgency and adventure to the telling.
Both the backstories involve the Ibn Ezra Synagogue in Cairo. Always guarded by watchmen who belong to a particular Muslim family, the prayer house has a valuable collection of artefact and documents, one of which is sought after most avidly by scholars and thieves alike. It is hard not to think of the Western scholars as thieves too because of how they go about acquiring and appropriating treasures that rightfully belong to others peoples and civilisations, always believing themselves to be the best caretakers of the world’s cultural and religious relics.
In the present, Yusuf/Joseph tries to form a picture of his departed father. The mystery surrounding his life seems the most contrived of the three plotlines. People are deliberately enigmatic and tight-lipped over strange details and everything seems hard to locate, including addresses and burial spots, though they are right there and quite easily found in the end. It works well as a metaphor, though. Often what you’re looking for is right where it should be and it is you who are lost.
So, is the document ever found or will it forever elude its seekers? That is for the reader to find out.
Michael David Lukas’ writing is impeccable, making the book a pleasure to read. He also keeps things so tight that what seems in your mind to be a sprawling saga actually gets over in a little over 250 pages.
The writer is the author of Jobless Clueless Reckless , a novel about teenagers.
The Last Watchman of Old Cairo;
