Cairo is the city evoked in this ambitious debut novel and it is seen from a prismatic range of perspectives, including those of Mariam and Khalil, two young activists whose lives are thrown into turmoil by the Arab spring. The couple work for a media collective that disseminates information about repression and revolution in a narrative spliced with tweets, Facebook posts and newspaper headlines, compellingly exploring the powers and pitfalls of communication. The author is also a film-maker and a cinematic style captures both brutality and beauty, from “the echo of bullets ricocheting through the air” to “the chorus of birds that fills the dusk air in Zamalek”. The novel also travels into the hearts of the people who inhabit this city (“the unending city of sores and scars and needs that will never be sated”) – in a moving chronicle of mortality, “the stain of a life slipping away” and the pain of losing loved ones.

• The City Always Wins by Omar Robert Hamilton is published by Faber (£14.99). To order a copy for £12.74 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99