this is a long book and confusing at times. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed and learned a lot about a history of a country and culture that I did not know much about. It is a book that took me quite a while to finish because at times it got heavy as well as confusing but I enjoyed it.

highly recommend.

This book. The gorgeous, gorgeous book. The Arsonist's City is a wonderfully crafted book of family, belonging, history, identity, and so much more. This is a story of a family and their ties to both each other and to their home (both currently and past). It is an exploration of how people are tied to places and identities, and how they discover themselves. I am absolutely in love with this book. I thought the characters were wonderful. Each member of the family was so beautifully crafted to make each of them so different, but at the same time explore very similar themes and ideas. Each one offered new insight. I loved how this story was paced and laid out with each story being told in a chunk and winding it all up together by the end. I already have several people in mind to gift this book to and will probably end up giving it a second read sometime soon.

There are no words to describe how beautiful this story was. It's a story between parents and their past lives in the Middle East and children who were born and raised in America. When the family is called back to their homeland to remember a death in the family, revelations are made.

I would recommend reading this family saga.

While this is over 400 pages, it is an engrossing family saga that sucks you in quickly and is filled with surprises and family secrets. The main characters were all well fleshed out, with chapters getting to know each one intimately. This novel spans the present and forty years prior. The relationships between the three siblings (Ava, Mimi, and Naj) are complex, but it is also obvious that they all love each other very much. The part exploring the beginning of Mazna (the mother’s) relationship with Idris (the father) was an important part of the novel as well.

This novel is set in three countries - the United States, Lebanon, and Syria, with the bulk of the story being outside the US. I appreciated how the story delved into the legacy of the wars in those countries and these effects on those living there. There are parts of this book that are particularly heavy due to this, especially Zakaria’s story.

This was story was told masterfully and beautifully. I have not read Alyan’s previous novel, Salt Houses, but am definitely interested in checking it out now.

Wow, what a beautiful story that tackles hard themes around immigration, belonging, place, womanhood, motherhood, sibling dynamics, and the cost of secrets. I loved all of our characters and Alyan really made me feel their unique struggles and concerns, and I loved the way each of the characters got the ending they needed in the book. I did feel like there was a chunk in the middle where the pace dragged just a little and I wasn't sure where we were going anymore, but Alyan brought it all together for a great ending. Be sure to check out trigger warnings - this was not a light book and ultimately had a bit more sex and secrets and betrayal than I prefer, but I do feel like these things were handled well. Highly recommended for those who love multigenerational sagas, multiple timelines, and immigrant stories.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This is an absolutely sweeping family saga that I never wanted to end. So rich, so full of life. I loved it.

Excellent prose and characters who felt supremely real. Intergenerational trauma was fleshed out and had you desperately invested in the characters.

Loved this book! One of my earliest Net Galleys, and one that I read within days, without stopping, looking up to notice that time has passed but I am shut in a world I don’t yet want to abandon. Alyan writes such sublime prose, with such resolutely determined sentences and imagery, I want to read more by her

What a glorious family saga that kept me up all night. A story that weaves history, sibling rivalry and family love so delicately together, I was almost taken off guard by the bold writing. I loved every second of this book that pulled at all the right heartstrings, and despite all the chaos and sadness, there was such perfect harmony in the writing and every character’s story.

Hala Alyan writes novels about the effect of displacement on families, the intergenerational trauma passed on as a result of losing a homeland and how it manifests in subsequent generations. She focuses on the minutae of their lives, the clash of cultures and personalities within a family, their rootlessness and their attempts to find their place in a new world that cares little for them.

Her debut novel Salt Houses followed the female line of a family forced to abandon Palestine, after a daughter visited family in Kuwait in 1967, then found herself unable to return, giving rising to successive generations born outside of their home country. Alyan is Palestinian American and spent her own childhood moving between the Middle East and the US, studying in Beirut, finding inspiration for her future characters.

“I wanted to write a family story that felt more urgent and plot-driven than what I had done in my previous work,” Alyan reveals. “I wanted to play with and unpack themes of secrecy – the lies we tell, the secrets we keep from ourselves and the secrets we keep from the people we love – and how that ripples out and what the intergenerational impact is.” Hala Alyan

The Arsonist’s City
This latest novel begins with a short chapter on the last day of a young man’s life. His name is Zakaria and he lives in one of the Palestinian camps in Beirut. His death is part of a cycle of revenge, one that causes people in many countries to seek asylum elsewhere, people caught in the wrong pace at the wrong time, lives changed in a moment.

Zakaria’s role in the story is small, but the impact his death has on his friends Mazna, a theatre actress and Idris, a medical student, is life-changing. It is a shocking opening and leaves the reader wanting to know more about these three friends and how they are all implicated in what happened. It plants a seed of fear that never quite leaves the narrative, an absence of the feeling of safety and security that pursues those who flee.

The Second Generation

The novel is very character lead and something of an immersive family saga.

After the opening chapter, the narrative jumps forward to the near present, focusing on Mazna’s three American born children, Ava, mother of two, a biologist married to Nate, whose marriage has hit a rocky patch; Marwan (Mimi), a 30 something musician, who can’t quite let go of the dream of becoming a rock star, his band now in its fifth incarnation since he graduated; and Naj, the youngest, also a musician and singer who returned to Beirut, to further her ambitions.

The three children, now young adults, have all been invited to spend the summer at their Grandfather’s home in Beirut, to attend his one year memorial. Their father has announced he intends to sell and wants them all present for this last summer.

The Road to Damascus

Having got to know each of these characters, the timeline moves back to the past, before Zakaria’s death, to Mazna’s adolescence in her hometown of Damascus, her venturing into theatre and acting, the catalyst for meeting Idris and his friends, and secret outings to Beirut.

Her failed attempts to pursue her career in America. Her shame. Her reluctance. Her giving in. Her anger. Her rage. Her silence. An atonement.

The return to Idris’s birth city will uncover secrets and combust lies, revealing fractures and deceptions that could make or break relationships. He will be challenged on his decision and the family, brought together under one roof for the first time in years, will be confronted with aspects of their past and present that can no longer be ignored.

None of the children know anything about their parents’ childhood friend, but old photos and the appearance of his mother outside their grandfather’s house prompt questions no one wants to answer. When they see the young man in an old video, their mother’s reaction speaks volumes.

It’s a hotbed of drama, of disappointments, of temptations and regrets.

An enjoyable if overly long-winded read with an abundance of detail and dialogue that felt like a melodramatic soap opera at times. In that respect, while it touched on many issues, they’re dealt with at a superficial level, a lost opportunity given the author’s background as a psychologist.

My main disappointment was how peripheral the family of Zakaria were and some of the decisions the author took about the connections (or lack of) between the two families. Opening the narrative with this family was an invitation to the reader, one that was never quite fulfilled.

The novel was however shortlisted for the Aspen Literary Award 2022 and they had this to say:

“The Arsonist’s City is the sharply drawn and compelling story of one family and the years of tenderness and betrayal that tether them to another, but it also tells a sweeping story about the aftermath of violence, displacement and upheaval. Alyan expertly balances her portrait of the way early dreams and parts of the self can vanish in adulthood with an exploration of how quickly home or a sense of normalcy can vanish or shift for an entire population, how easily a person, a city or a way of life can become at once familiar and unrecognisable.” 2022 Literary Prize Jury

A Sense of Place, A City Like No Other

Though I have never visited Damascus, I have been to Beirut a couple of times and I found that the novel evoked many memories of being in that city (over 20 years ago) and the surrounding countryside, the presence of the Syrian army, checkpoints, traffic lights that were recently installed but not compulsory, a generation of youth that had spent their childhoods in bunkers who just wanted to listen to music and party all night long.

As I read, I could hear the sound of that music and see how it became an escape for youth who wanted to escape their constraint, to take risks to feel free and belong to something outside themselves.

“People get older, they forget how brutal youth is. How dangerous it can be.”

Further Reading

New York Times A Family Reunites in Beirut, Where the Past Is Never Past by Maya Salam

Thoughts From A Page Interview via Podcast by Cindy Burnett: the character she enjoyed writing the most, wanting to provide a deeper understanding of Lebanon to her readers, how and why intergenerational conflict and secrets provide great fodder for writers, and more.

National News: Arts & Culture : ‘The Arsonists’ City’: Why Hala Alyan’s second novel is a love letter to Lebanon by Malcolm Forbes

“Home for me is a combination of where you have nested.” But, she says: “I always have in the back of my mind an understanding that that can change physically, for that’s the legacy of what I’ve experienced.” Hala Alyan

This was the first book I have read from this author and I was extremely impressed with the character development and the depth and layers of the relationships in the book. I do not have a lot of awareness of Arab culture and found this book to be educational learning about some of the norms and the way the people lived their lifes and the rules that they followed. I liked the unique stories and sections about the mother based in a different timeline. It made it easier to identify what she was like as a person, what their aspirations were, and how this played into the future as a mother and as a person. The family definitely had a lot of skeletons in the closet, however their secrets were not nearly as hidden as they would have thought. It was nice to see the reprieve from the strong emotion at the end and to see the family move into the future in a healthier manner. I definitely will be reading more from this author in the near future. She is sheer force as an author and has created something almost otherworldly with this book. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Being honest in that I probably won't finish this. I started it over a year ago and haven't thought about it since. Maybe in the future, it will spark some interest in me again.

This is a family drama told in two timelines - the first follows the members of the Nasr family- Syrian mother Mazna, Lebanese father Idris, and their 3 adult children- who travel from America to Beirut to stop Idris from selling his childhood home, a home that the children would one day inherit; the second timeline follows the relationship between Idris and Mazna, from the time they first meet in Damascus up to present day.⁣

My favorite part was the love story of the parents, Masna and Idris. The kids aren't all that likeable, but this is a good family drama, that is worth reading. It is a thought provoking read of well developed characters, plus we get to travel to Beruit.

I loved this book! The characters felt like real people with likeable and unlikeable qualities. I did not want to put it down. It took me a second to get into the story shifts, but I loved how the book was structured. The writing was engaging and easy to read. It's a sprawling book that touches on so many things in such a realistic way. I ended up juggling the audiobook and ebook for this one, and the audiobook was really great. I definitely want to check out Hala Alyan's other work and whatever she writes in the future.

The Arsonist's City was a captivating family drama straddling the angst of one generation in the war-torn Middle East with that of their children in the US. When the family reunites at the patriarchal home in Beirut, they all must reckon with the past and find a way forward into their futures.

I had this book sitting on my TBR shelf for the longest time; so when I came back to take a look at it, I surprisingly found out that it was a wish granted by the publisher! So you can guess from that alone that I was disposed to like this book. But unfortunately, that was not the case. The first chapter if I may call it, in which a young man is beaten to death by a group of men, was so compelling that it had me excited to get to the rest of the book. However, that was not the case. I am by no means offended by peeking into the intimate life of characters if need be in any book, but in this book it's not a peek and it's about nearly every character! I couldn't make it past 12% or so of the book, and I'm sure it wouldn't be the case if the author had not decided to elaborate even the most trivial parts of characters' sexual lives. I leave it at this, and happy reading to anyone who enjoys this kind of stuff.

I’ll start off by saying this is a book I have had in my possession for nearly a year at this point, so full credit to Carrie (@bostonbookfanatic) for finally getting me to read it by picking it as our last Mystery Book Club selection of 2021!

The Arsonists’ City is a twisting, unsparing family drama spanning several generations as well as continents. It also features one of the most compelling opening sequences I’ve read from literary fiction in quite a while. Within the Nasr family we follow the three adult children, Ava, Mimi and Naj, as they attempt to wrangle their bickering parents during a family trip to Lebanon. Each are dealing with struggles within their own separate lives while also navigating their place in such a, let’s say, ~colorful~ family.

Then about a third of the way into the book, the narrative suddenly shifts and we are focused on a young Mazna, their mother, in the times before, during and after meeting their father. This is probably the most heart-wrenching portion of the book, with a hefty amount of pages devoted to Manza’s story specifically. No spoilers, but damn. She really couldn’t catch a break, could she? It was admittedly not easy to read through ordeal after ordeal that Manza had to go through, how even when she had a choice she was essentially deciding between ‘bad’ and ‘slightly less bad’. And it was while reading her section that I had a revelation: I do not like most of these characters.

There is not one male character (save for a distinct exception) that I felt an ounce of sympathy for. Idris, Mimi, and literally every dude Manza comes across—I hate them! They suck so hard. I wish them the worst. The kids in general were just way less interesting than I was expecting their plot lines to be. Naj is clearly the best of them, but the bar isn’t particularly high. Even Idris’ extended family I could take or leave. The order I would rank my empathy for each character would be:
1. Zakaria
2. Zakaria’s family
3. Mazna
—end of list—

Obviously you don’t have to like characters you’re reading about, but you should care about what happens to them. And all I kept thinking while reading about this family is how privileged they were relative to literally every other person around them. Idris’ family growing up were rich and shielded from the worst of the conflict in the region. The kids have the textbook definition of First World Problems. And in my opinion, Idris himself made out like a fucking bandit. **check below for spoiler rant**

The ending wasn’t what I was hoping for either. With all of the deft ways Hala Alyan demonstrated her characters’ privilege and ignorance, I was hoping they’d come to atone more for their past complicity. Specifically, they should have given Zakaria’s mom the Lebanon house. By all means, this is beautifully written, if only somewhat too long, and the setting was stunningly rendered. Though if I read more by the author, I think I would prefer following a different kind of character.



**SPOILER AND MORE CURSING**
Also yes Idris, you killed your best friend. Mazna was never yours, and you never bothered to ask her how she felt, so in the end you actually stole her from your dead friend. Your dead friend who’s mother still lives in the camps while you whine about wanting to sell your second home.

This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

This book is absolutely stunning. The writing is beautiful, the characters so human and real ,and the story absolutely captivating. I'm so glad I read the book and can't wait for more from this author.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.