A chance encounter on a plane throws together Doha, a fashion designer unhappily married to a leading figure in the Mubarak regime, and Ashraf, an academic and leading dissident. The story of their relationship and Doha's self-discovery runs alongside a young Egyptian's search for the mother he never knew, and these intersecting narratives unfold against the background of political protests that culminate in the overthrow of the regime.<br>A moving and at times humorous story, <em>Butterfly Wings</em> is an extended allegory of Egypt's modern experience of authoritarian rule and explores the fractures and challenges of a society at the moment of revolutionary transformation. <br><br>Mohamed Salmawy's almost prophetic novel was first published in Arabic immediately prior to the events of 25 January 2011, and has been celebrated as 'the novel that predicted the Revolution.'