Asmahan, the protagonist, is presented as a well-to-do independent woman who is able to sensualize the beauty of the land, the concept of home, and the country in itself, even in times of war.

In 10 letters addressed to the people, places, and events that have shaped her life, Asmahan tries to decide whether to stay in her war-ravaged country or to emigrate to the U.S., where her mother lives, or possibly to France, new home of her friends Jawad and Hayat.

She writes long, rambling, eloquent letters to loved ones, to Beirut, and to the war itself and the daring fragmented structure of this epistolary novel mirrors the chaos surrounding the heroine.

But the constant danger and the daily frustrations of dealing with the various militias, of not having enough food, of rationed electricity, coupled with her love for Jawad, weaken her resolution.

In this sparkling translation, Hanan al-Shaykh vividly portrays the tragedy of contemporary Lebanon in resonant human terms.