Hamida resents her life in Midaq Alley and seeks to leave it for a luxurious and upscale life So she works as a prostitute through the pimp Farag who takes her out of the poverty of the alley to live in luxury.
There is Al-Boushi who digs up the graves of the rich in search of wealth, and Dr. Zita
who specializes in causing physical disabilities to beggars, and all of them paint a vivid picture of Egyptian society during World War II.
The novel was published in 1947, and was transferred
to the cinema screen in a film by director Hassan Al-Imam in 1963, and a Mexican film starring
Salma Hayek in 1995.