Effendina (The Story of the young King Farouk of Egypt, 1920-1943)

King Farouk came to the throne in 1936, at the tender age of 16. The young monarch’ s rule was to the be the last in a dynasty that had run this ancient land since 1805. Melekper Toussoun’ s account is a history told from the inside, as someone who was part of that final dynasty which held the helm until the monarchy was toppled in a coup d'é tat in 1952 – a coup d’ é tat that would probably not have taken place had the young king not suffered an accident that affected the neuronal pathways in his brain. This evocative and highly personal narrative tells the story of the young monarch, and pivots on one central event that was to change everything - Farouk’ s car accident on a country road in 1943, in which he sustained an injury which, without damaging his intellectual faculties, changed instantly and permanently his behaviour and personality. Melekper Toussoun evocatively conveys the stresses and strains the king was under through those tortured years, and highlights the gulf between his behaviour before and after the accident where 'Farouk was no longer Farouk.'