What I Know About You


What I Know About You is a novel by Éric Chacour, published on August 24, 2023, by Éditions Alto in Québec and by Éditions Philippe Rey in France. The English translation by Pablo Strauss was published by Pushkin Press in 2024.
The novel focuses on relations in a Levantine-Egyptian family, and a romantic relationship that strains existing norms, expectations and responsibilities. It won the prix des Libraires in 2024, making Chacour the second Québécois to win the prize after Anne Hébert in 1971.

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.

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. 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 section "We," describes the relationship between the two characters in a dozen pages.

Translations

In 2024, the novel was translated into English by Pablo Strauss and published by Pushkin Press. The translated version was a finalist for the Giller Prize, the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for debut books by LGBTQ writers, and for the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2024.
As of July 2025, the novel had been translated into more than 10 languages.

Reception

As of 2025, the novel had sold more than 300,000 copies, and won a number of awards.

Awards

The novel has won over 12 prizes, including: