Description
The war broke out and she decided to call her dad. Weeks and weeks they do not speak; the weeks become months and then years.
She imagines herself starting this story and how she will tell it later to someone else: ‘We hadn't spoken for years, but then the war broke out...’
As conflict plays out across an unnamed region, its inhabitants deal with the fallout. Families are torn apart and brought together. A divide grows between those on either side of the war; compromises are struck as the toll of violence impacts near and far. We learn about those who are left behind and those who choose to leave in a great scattering. As the stories of those affected play out, they weave together to show the whole of a society in the most extreme of circumstances. Even after the last shot is fired, their world will never recover. This powerful novel asks if it’s possible to ever measure the personal cost of war.
A captivating literary journey that delves into the intertwined lives of a town, its people, and a region shaped by revolution and war.
Endorsements
“Like an impressionist painter, Kassab uses words like brushstrokes to build a vivid picture of intertwined lives set against the continuing drumbeat of war. The narrative moves between past, present and future and uses time as an effective device to illustrate how the effects of war linger long after its cessation.” — Books and Publishing