The City of the Dead is a vast cemetery close to the centre of Cairo which has become a permanent home for thousands of migrants from the countryside‎.‎ For many of the women‎,‎ though still living in poverty‎,‎ migration has brought a taste of freedom‎,‎ as the exclusively female gatherings which form the setting for this book clearly show‎.‎ The author has spent long periods inside this environment‎,‎ where autobiographical and fictional story‎-telling is a routine pastime‎.‎ She transcribes the stories and introduces the tellers and their society‎.‎