A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return

Even for adults, the geopolitical situation in the Middle East can be difficult to grasp. This book puts a human face on the strife that has shaped the region and led to the upheavals of today.

In Lebanon there are eighteen different communities and religions. So, even for adults, the geopolitical situation in the Middle East can be difficult to grasp. The author explains the strife during her childhood, a civil war between Muslims and Christians. Zeina Abirached, born into a Lebanese Christian family in 1981, has collected her childhood recollections of this time in a surprisingly warm story. When she was born, the war had been going on for six years, so it was simply a normal part of life. Beirut was cut in two, separated by bricks and sandbags, threatened by snipers and shelling. East Beirut was Christian, and West Beirut was for Muslims. When Zeina's parents fail to return from a visit across the city and the bombing grows ever closer, the residents of her apartment house make a world indoors for Zeina and her little brother where it's comfy and safe, gathering for cooking lessons and games and gossip. In the end, their safe haven is brought down by the shelling, but family and neighbors all survive. Zeina's story, though sometimes dramatic, is foremost about the strength of an extended family and community living through a dramatic day in the place where they hope they will always be safe.