May: The Nights of Isis Copia

In "May: The Nights of Isis Copia" (مي ليالي إيزيس كوبيا), acclaimed Algerian author Wassini Laredj turns his literary lens toward one of the most tragic chapters in modern Arabic literary history: the unjust institutionalization of pioneering writer May Ziade (who often used the pen name "Isis Copia"). After suffering the devastating loss of her parents and her soulmate Gibran Kahlil Gibran, Ziade was betrayed by her own relatives, declared insane, and forcibly confined to the infamous "Asfouriyyeh" mental asylum in Lebanon to seize her estate. Blending meticulous historical research, lost manuscripts, and lyrical narrative imagination, Laredj reconstructs May’s painful days inside the asylum. The novel exposes the betrayal of the intellectual elite who abandoned her, the greed of her family, and the patriarchal prejudice of the era. Rich in emotional intensity, Laredj’s work serves as a powerful vindication of a brilliant woman's legacy and a harrowing critique of societal cruelty.

Because it offers an emotionally gripping, historically grounded narrative that restores dignity to May Ziade while critiquing the patriarchal and societal betrayals she suffered.

For readers of modern Arabic literature, fans of biographical fiction, feminist literature enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the lives of pioneering Arab intellectuals.