Plot
What I Know About You follows Tarek, a young doctor taking over his father’s medical practice in 1980s Cairo. His choice to open a dispensary in the poorer neighborhood of Mokattam leads him to meet Ali. Their relationship will alter the course of his otherwise pre-ordained life.[2]
Narrative focus and style
The book touches on many themes around human and familial relations, including love, homosexuality, gender, prostitution, migration, and fate.
The novel is broken up into three steadily shorter sections, that gradually reveal the position of the omniscient narrator.[2] The first section “You” is written in the second person, and focuses on the story of Tarek. The second section “Me,” mostly written in the first person, allows the narrator to reveal themselves. Finally, the shortest (third) section “We,” describes the relationship between the two characters in a dozen pages