August 2020
The Society of Fine Folks
by Tobie Nathan
A saga set between Cairo and post WWII Paris, imbued with magic realism. Born into poverty in a destitute Jewish quarter of old Cairo, Zohar arrives in France with no family, no friends and no money. His only companion is the ghost of Dieter Boehm, his Nazi torturer. He leaves behind a war-torn Egypt: a land as unhealthy as its king, Faruk, who is softened by a life of luxury; a country poisoned by the rise of the Muslim Brother, by former Nazis infiltrating its army, pogroms against the Jews and the rebellion lead by the powerful Nasser.Once in France, he shares his obsessions with Aaron, Lucien and Paulette, three people bound by their determination to break with an oppressive past. They treat their former tormentors to the same procedure: two bullets to the head, the first for revenge, the other as a signature.This is the story that Zohar’s son François uncovers. It will help him understand the mysterious promise his father made to the “Society of Fine Folks” – a promise François decides to honour.
