Review of My Life in Jewelry: A Memoir by Azza Fahmy

*My Life in Jewelry: A Memoir* by Azza Fahmy (2024). Published by The American University of Cairo Press.

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

This blog post is interesting to me because lately, I’ve been struggling to get in my reading time. I was working for the longest time as a freelancer and contractor, but recently pivoted to an 8-5 job where I’m in an office. It’s not hybrid, so I’m always at home trying to put the puzzle pieces together of how I’ll get my reading done. I also continue working on this blog when I’m not at work, so the Instagram reels I’m fed about a 5-9 feel too real right now.

Anyways, I am trying to find that time to read here and there. Somehow I’m still on track for my Goodreads goal, even though I’ve been slowly giving up on the notion of reading goals in life. I think they can be a little too much pressure and takes the fun off of reading at the end of the day, and I want to read because I want to stay in touch with literature while also pursuing my side career as a writer.

I found a copy of My Life in Jewelry when I was at the local library, and it intrigued me straight off the bat. I’ve been wanting to read more about contemporary Egypt lately, and while I had not heard of Azza, I wanted to know her story.

So I picked it up and read it over the course of a week. Here are my thoughts!

Azza Fahmy’s story and upbringing, leading to how she became one of the leading designers in the Arab jewelry world.

As I wrote before, I was unfamiliar with Azza before picking this book up. She describes her childhood, as she was born in Sohag, and how her family moved to Cairo after the death of her father. Early on though she was pretty exposed to opulence, which would explain her eye for jewelry design.

Upper Egypt in itself feels like a character. I was unfamiliar with the regions of Egypt going into this memoir, but I feel like I want to know more after running through Azza’s story. I’m just so fascinated by some of the stories she was telling, and it felt earnest despite being in translation.

She went to college and became educated, but when she found a government job, her calling felt like it was pushing her towards jewelry design. It was from that moment, while originally still keeping her job, that she began picking up gigs in Cairo’s jewelry quarter and learning about the profession.

She was one of the only women in the field at the time, as Egypt’s jewelry scene was dominated by men. Despite that, she brings to life the world she was enamored and consumed by, creating a living history through her words about Egyptian jewelers in the late 1960s onward.

She ended up making a name for herself and receiving funding to study more, which kickstarted her extensive career throughout the years. However at the core of all of this is her Egyptian heritage and love for the country and its culture, especially considering how she was raised with a pride for it.

Overall Thoughts

Considering I came into this memoir with little to no expectations, I would say that I really enjoyed it! Some memoirs are truly hit or miss for me, and this was a hit. The translation felt smooth and easy to read, and I enjoyed Azza’s voice as a storyteller.

I felt like I learned a lot about her life through the vignettes, which are mainly in chronological order. I even went and looked up her jewelry after reading this book, which was impressive considering I held off that long, but I could see how her history inspired the work she was creating.

I would say if you had the chance to read this book and have an interest in her or the subject matter, then definitely get this book! I enjoyed it a lot, as I wrote before, and I would definitely recommend it.

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