Hikayat: Short Stories by Lebanese Women by Roseanne Saad Khalaf (ed)

Hikayat: Short Stories by Lebanese Women

Roseanne Saad Khalaf (ed)

These stories give an insight into the lives of the ordinary people of Beirut. Not all are about war, but its impact on the lives of Lebanese women is unforgetable. You can dip and sample a variety of styles - and lengths. Everyone will make you think. I enjoyed the author biographies too.

Extract
'There was much that was terrible, yes, and yet, in an odd way, it was a unique experience. I have never lived as intensely as I did during the war.'

'Intensely?'

'Perceptions were heightened, experiences were more vivid. I can't explain it. I felt I was really alive. I wrote poems mostly, that were compact and intense reactions to what was happening.... There was heightened meaning to our everyday lives. I fact, I haven't felt that way since the war ended.'

... The delicate jasmine blossoms shivered in the breeze, wrapping us in their fragrant perfume. The white flowers fell gently in our laps as we sat silently in the fragrant garden, an anachronism in this city of unruly concrete.
Parallels
  • Qissat: Short Stories by Palestinian Women by Jo Glanville (ed)
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  • Gaza Blues by Edgar Keret and Samir El-Youssef