Over the rest of the book, Raja loops back and forth from memory to memory, telling us the story not just of his own coming of age and the forging of his bond with his mother, but also the history of Beirut. Her sympathy she saves for the victims: the free spirited young woman who cheats on her older husband, but not the social-climbing neighbor who betrays her; both the woman trapped in a loveless marriage and the husband’s mistress, but not the husband himself. Lorelei presents herself in her diary as a naive waif who always takes her suitors at their word, but the more she tells us about all the ways she’s gotten ahead in the world on the strength of her own charms, the more we begin to wonder.
Author: Constance Grady
Published at: 2025-12-15 21:26:49
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