In chronological terms, Tunisian experience of modern European olonialism was almost exactly coerminous with that of Egypt. Brit ish troops occupied Egypt in 1882 in wake of 'Urabi rebellion, and though Egypt secured a substantial measure of independence for it self in 1936, final evacuation of British troops from Suez Canal Zone did not take place until 1955. In Tunisia, French occupation lasted from 1881 until declaration of independence on 20 March 1956, but French troops remained in naval base of Bizerte until 1964. But although nineteenth-century Tunisian reformer Hayr al-DIn has sometimes been regarded as a figure of stature on a par with his Egyptian contemporaries, subsequent cultural and literary development of two countries proceeded at a very different pace. In contrast to many dozens of novels produced in Egypt between 1882 and 1955, only a handful (six, according to a recent study)1 were produced in corre sponding period in Tunisia, and of these probably only one 'All al Du'agfs Gawlah bayna hanat al-bahr al-mutawassit remains widely read today. Novel-writing in Tunisia in fact came to prominence only in late 1950s and early 1960s, and is essentially a post-colonial phe nomenon a blossoming of self-expression which followed removal of what Allen has termed the pervasive influence of French culture.2 Despite this comparatively late start, however, Tunisian novel has certainly achieved a greater maturity and diversity than would be appar ent from many general histories of modern Arabic literature ? particularly those produced in English-speaking world, many of which scarcely acknowledge existence of a modern Tunisian literary tradition at all. Although Tunisian poet al-Sabbl has been universally (and rightly) accorded a leading place in development of modern Arabic Romantic poetry, only Tunisian novelists commonly mentioned in such ac counts are al-BasTr Hurayyif and Mahmud al-Mas'adl.3