A rich family story, a personal look at the legacy of war in the Middle East, and an indelible rendering of how we hold on to the people and places we call home
The Nasr family is spread across the globeâBeirut, Brooklyn, Austin, the California desert. A Syrian mother, a Lebanese father, and three American children: all have lived a life of migration. Still, theyâve always had their ancestral home in Beirutâa constant touchstoneâand the complicated, messy family love that binds them.
But following his fatherâs recent death, Idris, the familyâs new patriarch, has decided to sell.
The decision brings the family to Beirut, where everyone unites against Idris in a fight to save the house. They all have secretsâlost loves, bitter jealousies, abandoned passions, deep-set shameâthat distance has helped smother. But in a city smoldering with the legacy of war, an ongoing flow of refugees, religious tension, and political
protest, those secrets ignite, imperiling the fragile ties that hold this family together.
In a novel teeming with wisdom, warmth, and characters born of remarkable human insight, the award-winning author Hala Alyan shows us again that âfiction is often the best filter for the real world around usâ (NPR).