This was an amazing book and made me so nostalgic for Lebanon! Hala Alyan has a way with words and I love her writing so much, I also loved the characters they were all so complex and complicated and realistic.

Wow, what an interesting read! This was a rich story that I didn’t want to end and I was so invested in the characters.

A fresh and interesting take on the family drama and engrossing cast of characters. A little slow towards the end but an enjoyable read all the way through.

When the Israel-Palestine conflict was in the news, I thought about The Arsonists’ City which had been sitting on my TBR and mentioned it to Ariel. Hoping to broaden our understanding through fiction, we decided to give this one a read! See our full discussion on Armed with A Book.

As one of our longer reads so far, The Arsonists’ City was a slow start for me but it was so gripping towards the end when I knew all the characters and my interest in their lives was piqued. In another book I read not very long back, one main lesson was understanding that parents had a life of their own before marriage and kids. Growing up, since we never see them in that light, we don’t realize how they came to be the way they are. Through this book, I saw a number of interesting themes that I enjoy reading about – immigration, family roots, family secrets and history, broader historical and geographical context with the setting – this one was an educational book for me for many reasons!

Though I generally gravitate towards fewer perspectives in a story, the POVs of the kids and their mother were required to understand what significance the house in Beirut held in each of their lives. And though this family trip was to sell it, the intention was actually much bigger than that. It was about closing a chapter of the past that no one had truly gone past, a chapter that affected the kids in their unique manner.

It would not be fair to the book if we do not mention the cultural aspects of the story. I was a bit of a blank slate when it came to Middle Eastern culture and I really liked the integration of music, theatre and night life in the story. What might be assumed to be completely unlike the West doesn’t look very different from our own Western society in modern times.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a complimentary digital copy for an honest review.

This book took a little longer to get involved, as the background on each character is so extensive, but I enjoyed it as I the characters made the trip back to Lebanon and began to interact. A lot of history in this family and much of it sad or tragic, particularly the parents' relationship.

I loved this book so, so much. I sped through it in just a few days because I just needed to know what came next! I don't always love a family saga but Alyan hit it out of the park and I immediately purchased her previous book Salt Houses.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It left me with a riotous storm of emotions: frustrated, happy, nostalgic, cheated, lost, at home, adrift, and at peace. A long drama like this has a way of digging in and grabbing hold of you, only letting go when the story is ready to let you go. I feel like I know these characters. I feel like I've had tea with Ava, smiled indulgently at Idris and his Americanisms, rolled my eyes at Mimi's moodiness, been charmed by Zakaria, gone dancing with Naj. They feel like friends.

If you only look at the surface, this doesn't seem like a story everyone will be able to identify with. Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and so many other countries have experienced war in a way a lot of us cannot understand, not a bone-deep level. There is an uncertainty that pervades everything that I can sympathize with but not empathize with.

But there are so many things just beneath the surface here that are universal human experiences that I think this book has something for everyone. Maybe you'll connect with Mimi and his creative struggles. Maybe you'll learn how to be your true self with Naj. Maybe you'll finally find the joy in a life you didn't expect but wanted all the same.

I'll be recommending this book to everyone.

This story was so engaging that I could not wait for any opportunity to pick it up and be transported back into the Nasr family. It did take a bit to get involved in everything but at 400+ pages that is to be expected. I loved how each character’s life was so multi layered. I enjoyed how there was a little of everything in this one...great writing, detailed setting, family, siblings, mom life, love, career, secrets, and just life in general. I wanted the book to keep going so that is always a good sign. I enjoyed the sections delving into different family members lives and really explaining their path in life. If you like character driven novels but with a plot feel (does that make sense?)...this fits the bill perfectly. I cannot wait to read this author’s “Salt Houses” soon.

Thank you to @houghtonmifflinharcourt for a digital copy via @netgalley as you can see I also bought my own copy!

Posted on Instagram @carolinehoppereads and Goodreads

The Arsonists City - 4⭐

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Full review to come.

I just finished this book and still need to process my thoughts. I loved how this story alternated from past to present; first we learn about Manza's children and then see things from Manza's perspective. While certain a slower pace at 500 pages, I took several weeks to read this and it actually helped me absorb the story best. Heartbreaking at times, insightful at others, I would overall recommend this timely read.

Read if you enjoy: strong family narratives, multi-generational family sagas.

We continue our anniversary celebration in conversation with the brilliant poet and author, Hala Alyan (@hala.n.alyan). She speaks to us about how this beautiful family story was birth from a dream and how important it is to practice your craft.

Hala Alyan will make you take inventory of the secrets you may be holding. In 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔' 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚, we are given a window into the lives of the Nasr family. The secrets that each person clutches weigh heavy on their heads, but it is up to them to either carry it or suffer the repercussions of their confession.::

LISTEN TO OUR INTERVIEW WITH HALA ALYAN AT VULGAR GENIUSES PODCAST. LINK DOWN BELOW.

#halaalyan
#thearsonistscity
#vulgargeniusesturns1
#vulgargeniusespodcast
#hmhbooks
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For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Arsonists’ City by Hala Alyan is a generational saga taking place in Syria, Lebanon, and the United States. Ms. Alyan is an award winning poet and novelist.

When the Nasr family’s patriarch dies, his son, Idris, in the United States decides to sell the family’s home in Beirut, albeit for that he wants the whole family to come along. The rest of the Nasrs, however, are not delighted with Idris’ decision and are uniting against him.

Slowly, the family’s tangled web of secrets unravels. Jealousies, histories, shame, lost loves, as well as legacies of war surface.

One of the first noticeable things when starting to read The Arsonists’ City by Hala Alyan is that the writing is particularly superb. Ms. Alyan’s narrative is very lyrical, well written, and, by all means, a joy to read.

For one thing, within the first few pages, the author sets the state in a very intense scene. She introduces the Beirut, a religious war, the everyday hidden violence, and furthermore, regional politics. The story changes pace dramatically from section to section, jumping forward and backward decades.

The sections do have a logical connection, even though they take decades apart. In that manner, the book reminded of the excellent biography Walking With Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne. Like anyone else, the Nasr family’s relations are complex, layered, and built on omissions, half-lies, repressed feelings, not to mention lots of love.

The subject of refugees and the impact of wars on them is a recurring theme within the book. The author captures the impacts we all know happen, but choose to ignore.
An eternal foreigner in a foreign land – for generations.

I enjoyed the individual histories of the characters, which seamlessly flow into their shared family history. The characters are nuanced and fleshed out, and their relationships are realistic as well as their bad decision making.

Last but not least, the locations are brought to life very well. The descriptions of Beirut and Syria are well-done and capture the feel and ambiance from a local’s perspective.

Such a gripping read, really enjoyed the story. Definitely one of my favourite books that I read in 2020, highly recommend.

An epic family saga The Arsonists’ City tells us the story of the Nasr family with roots in Lebanon, Syria and the United States. When a death in the family brings them all back to Beirut, long-held family secrets are finally revealed – putting the fragile ties that hold the Nasrs together, in danger.

Wow, I just finished this book on audio and while I normally wait 10,000 years to write a review, I had to get my immediate reactions written down.

The Arsonists’ City begins with a prologue that introduces us to Zakaria, a Palestinian man implicated in the death of a Maronite man at the start of the Lebanese civil war. His death quietly drives the plot and really illustrates the long shadow war and violence can cast on a family. There is a lot of education that can be found in this books 464 pages.

Yes, I said 464. No, it does not feel that long. Hala Alyan is an incredible writer that makes reading feel like a reward. Her ability to transport you to a thought, touch or feeling is electrifying. I found myself pining for Zakaria with Mazna, experiencing heartache with Ava and Naj and the stinging jealously Mimi feels over his sister’s success. These characters are messy and complicated. I found myself on numerous occasions wondering if I really liked them – but isn’t that the hallmark of a good writer – the ability to put imperfect people to a page and leaving someone wanting more?

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review!

Sometimes I try to explain to my friends how Arab families are built on deeply held secrets and generational trauma, and that none of us escape unscathed from both. From now on I'll just point them towards The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan and let it do the explaining.

It took me nearly a month to find the words for this review. I will start by saying that this book hit way too close to home for me, and so I find it hard to put my thoughts about it into words. So. Let's start with the basics: the book follows two generations of a Lebanese-Syrian family across two timelines, telling the story from multiple point of views, through flashbacks and present day events. The multiple points of view work beautifully well together, and at no point does the timeline get confusing. We see the inner workings of each character's mind, their journeys, and the way this family was built on secrets and generational trauma. Mazna's character, which is arguably the character who is the very heart of this book, is shaped by ambition and trauma and secrets. As Mazna's story unfolds, it becomes easy to see the way each of her children has carried their own load of the burden of their mother's past. And although we have Mazna and her three children narrating, the past and the house and each location described become separate characters sharing the narration. The House, the bakery, the theater -I can close my eyes right now, even a month after reading the book, and picture each perfectly. Damascus and Beirut pulse with life in this book in a way that made my heart ache to go back to both. The beauty of each city and its people, even with war looming over, isn't overlooked and for that I'm immensely grateful to the author.

Alyan manages to bring the past of Syria and Lebanon to life, in an honest way that shows the complexities of living in the shadow of war and allows the characters to be human in it. Alyan allows these characters joy and love and hate, even in the middle of war, thus subverting the notion that a society at war ceases to live. I usually avoid any fiction book that talks about war and refugees, because the overall effect often feels voyeuristic and cheap -the overall effect meant to garner sympathy from an audience that often haven't experienced anything of the like and will soon forget about it after shedding a tear or two at a dramatic scene- but this isn't the case with this book. The writing here is careful and just. It goes into nuances about the past war in Lebanon and tensions between various factions that I've only heard discussed specifically in Syrian and Lebanese households. This carefulness with handling the past war, the treatment of Palestinians, and the refugee camps at the time also extends to how Alyan writes about the war in Syria today. The book doesn't shy away from the ugliness of war, but it doesn't pretend that war erases all other characteristics and aspects of life either. We even see the main characters -American children of a Syrian mother- struggle to claim any grief or anger towards the destruction of a land they only scarcely knew (It brings to mind We Lived Happily During the War By Ilya Kaminsky). The grief isn't something I'm too interested in expanding on in this review, because the topic is a throbbing wound still, but I deeply related to Mazna saying that she likes to pretend the war didn't happened and that nothing changed. I find myself doing that often too.

The Arsonists' City felt like coming home in a lot of aspects. It depicts Arab families extremely well in all of their messed up glory. The mother-daughter vs mother-son dynamics, the host of old sayings that spring up endlessly, the terms of endearment and the guilt-tripping and the love and secrets baked deep into the Arab family's bones.. I loved all of it. Most of all, I loved seeing terms unchanged and untranslated, but still understandable from context. I don't think I've ever read a book in English that showed a family this similar to the ones I grew up with. Which brings me back to the characters and how real they all are. I didn't expect to love Zakaria and loathe Idris but that's where I ended up, and later in the book I found myself with the same complex emotions towards Idris that Mazna herself had. There were instances where I loved and/or hated each of them (except Naj and Ava, who I only loved the whole way through) and where I felt my heart break or felt revolted by their actions. It is the marker of a good book when its characters are caught in shades of grey morality and you're forced to acknowledge that wrongdoing is human nature and move on.

My only qualm is the abrupt ending. Don't get me wrong; I think that the ending is appropriate and fitting for the book, but I wanted more after it. More on each character. More on what they'll do next. A closure to the one thing left a bit open-ended (no spoilers!). I just wanted more of the story I think, because it felt a bit open ended and I would have liked the characters to have proper closure.

Overall, I really loved this book and I have already recommended it to several friends.

Trigger warnings: Descriptions of war and death, descriptions of sexual harassment, description of hate crime/violent homophobia.

4.5 stars, rounded up

A fabulous multigenerational tale spanning from Syria and Lebanon to America and back again. This novel follows the Nasr family in the present as they decide to sell their ancestral home in Beirut. There are multiple timelines of the past and present throughout this novel, both of which cover the topics of immigration, family, home, and loss.

At first, I felt as if the novel was a bit slow and I was more so enjoying the storyline with the parents when they were young much more than the present storyline. There is a certain moment near the halfway point of the book where something occurs (not giving away any spoilers!), and I began to see the ways the past and present storylines were going to connect and from there I was hooked. This was a wonderful story giving insight into an Arab immigrant experience.

There were many instances when the mother in the story, Mazna, would talk about how foreign moving to the US was. I know this is the case for so many immigrants from many places, but it made me think about my own family members and how they must have felt when they landed in the US for the first time.

I would highly recommend this one to those who enjoy multigenerational stories (one of my favorite genres), as well as those who want to read more Arab and Arab American stories.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the gifted e-book in exchange for an honest opinion!

This book centres on two generations of one Arab American family. The story unfolds when the father decides he wants to sell the family home in Beirut and his wife and children all object. When the family reunite in Beirut, a long buried secret is eventually unearthed.

The story follows each of the grown up children, two in America and one in Beirut, as well as the mother. I loved getting an insight into each of their lives, so separate from one another and each giving a deeper perspective on different events or relationships. The mother, Mazna, was the most interesting character to me and although I didn’t really like her, I was still captivated by her which showed how well written her character was.

The prologue of this book immediately drew me in and hit me in the chest with its impact. It also introduced the character that would remain at the heart of the story even though he was the least present.

Alyan touched on some of the recent history of Lebanon and Syria and very briefly, Palestine. She didn’t go into the history itself but more the way it impacted the relationship between the three countries: how Lebanese people sought safety in Syria during the civil war and how later on, the reverse happened; how Palestinians ended up seeking refuge in both. She also demonstrated a few examples of the way Palestinians were looked upon and treated.

The writing was rich and beautifully poetic (as I expected after loving Salt Houses) and sprinkled throughout were many keenly astute observations of life, love and family.

Wow! A stunning family saga from Palestinian-American author Hala Alyan. This story spans the time from the mid 1900's through current day, from Lebanon and Syria to the cities and suburbs of America. The story is told from the perspective of several members of the Nasr family. The Nasr family is comprised of a Syrian mother, a Lebanese father and their 3 (now adult) children who were raised in America. When the patriarch announces that he has decided to sell his family home in Beirut, it sends the family into an emotional and confused tailspin. Why does he want to sell his family's house? That summer, the whole family travels to Beirut where they reflect on their lives. Their secrets, their desires and their disappointments all come to the surface.

I loved this one. It was all too real and powerful with all of the family drama. I loved learning about the members of the family and their pains, jealousies, and temptations. There are missed connections, misunderstandings, revelations and everything you would want from a family saga. I loved the setting of Beirut and Damascus. The author did a fantastic job creating realistic characters and establishing a sense of place. I highly recommend this one.

Hala Alyan's sophomore novel, The Arsonists' City, is a heartfelt and moving family saga that spans both generations and continents.

The Nasr family has always had a family home in Beirut, even as generations of Nasrs have moved across the world: Mazna, born in Syria, and Idris, in Lebanon, now live in California, their adult children scattered in Brooklyn, Austin and Beirut. But when Idris's father dies and Idris decides to sell his family home, three generations of relatives descend on the house to try to talk him out of it--or maybe talk themselves into it. The resultant piling-on is as emotional (and occasionally hilarious) as one would expect, with long-buried secrets and tightly held grudges brought to the surface, testing bonds of parent and child, brother and sister, friend and lover.

Alyan (Salt Houses) is an excellent storyteller; the many threads of the Nasr family's history are all tightly woven through The Arsonists' City, and the characters across its pages are fully developed, complex and familiarly imperfect. That alone would be enough to set The Arsonists' City apart from other epic family sagas, but the novel becomes something even larger in Alyan's capable hands: an exploration of the legacy of war and violence, the decisions people make to survive and the lies they tell themselves--and those they love--to accept those decisions. "We don't choose what we belong to," writes Alyan. "What claims us." But with The Arsonists' City, she does raise questions about what we choose to do with that belonging, and what power lies in the mere fact of claiming--by a people, by a place, or both.

I LOOOOVE a good dramatic family saga and this was definitely that. So much going on at all times! The writing is exquisite and I had so much fun getting in on the secrets of all of the characters.

Arsonists' City is a compelling, emotional, and beautifully written book. Each character was endlessly fascinating, the setting was incredible. It is long and slow paced, but I didn't have too much trouble getting through it, as I was completely immersed in the story. Highly recommend.