Tobie Nathan

A riveting and revealing tale of an Egypt caught between tradition and modernity, multiculturalism and nationalism, oppression and freedom. Cairo 1925, Haret al-Yahud, the old Jewish Quarter. Esther, a beautiful young woman believed to be possessed by demons, longs to give birth after seven blissful years of marriage. Her husband, blind since childhood, does not object when, in her effort...

In September 2014, the French government entrusted Tobie Nathan with the task of counselling radicalised young people who had been drawn to jihadism, and in this book he recounts his experiences of some of the young people he met and counselled. He describes what he heard, felt, and perceived in his encounters with these young people and their loved ones...

We think we know what healers do: they build on patients’ irrational beliefs and treat them in a ‘symbolic’ way. If they get results, it’s thanks to their capacity to listen, rather than any influence on a clinical level. At the same time, we also think we know what modern medicine is: a highly technical and rational process, but one...