Fiction in the form of an epistolary novel that converges with women's studies. A woman, Etel, writes letters to deal with the agonies of loss and life during wartime. In it, the problems of Arab women (and all women) are probed gently, fairly, but with unflinching honesty. Adnan refuses to endorse reactionary stances of tit-for-tat hate discourse. She remains level-headed and articulate. In attempting to explain the motives behind war and the overwhelming destruction of Beirut, Adnan makes insightful observations on the relation of culture and gender roles.--Susan Smith Nash
This review originally appeared in TapRoot Reviews #3,
Contact the editor, luigi-bob drake, at Burning Press
Copyright Burning Press 1993, 1995.