The Field

I am fairly sure that when our ancestors first dismounted, they only meant to stretch their legs, not stay forever. From the moment Zaz realises that she’s a girl – not ‘a man who does as he pleases’ – she dreams of freedom. Instead, she becomes one of the first Bedouin to settle in Egypt in the 1930s, part of the last generation to leave behind a nomadic life that had followed the seasons for centuries. Determined to build a life of her own, Zaz pours herself into her small field. Early each morning, before the sun rises, she leaps over the wall to tend to her trees and clear the irrigation channel that divides wheat from raw earth. But growing what she needs is one thing. It is another thing altogether to guard it from the thieving neighbours. Zaz was my mother. This is her story, and the story of how our people learned to put down roots without losing themselves – or their cows and chickens – with the help of one determined little donkey.