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The Arsonists' City

Hala Alyan

4.34 · Rating details · 3,328 ratings · 624 reviews

A rich family story, a personal look at the legacy of war in the Middle East, and an indelible rendering of how we hold on to the people and places we call home

The Nasr family is spread across the globe—Beirut, Brooklyn, Austin, the California desert. A Syrian mother, a Lebanese father, and three American children: all have lived a life of migration. Still, they’ve always ...more

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Hardcover, 464 pages

Published March 9th 2021 by Mariner Books

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Apr 07, 2021 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook

Absolutely fantastic… Review soon!!!
UPDATE REVIEW....

Audiobook....read by Leila Buck....(she was excellent)...
E-book ..... read by me.....(yeah, I’m excellent too)...haha!

This is a huge story....sooo much going on! It’s a big-fat-fricken-character-driven-family-saga-STORY!!! There are familiar universal themes. Themes for grownups. Complexities of adulthood...[be it marriage, sex,secrets, migration, betrayals, jealousy, aging, ambition, war, political and cultural challenges, belonging, failing ...more

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Jun 12, 2021 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2021-favorites

I did not want this rich, nuanced, novel to end. Set in Beirut, Damascus, New York, Austin and California, I became immersed in the life of a family over two generations. A family conflicted with rivalries and secrets - each person so real they jumped off the page and into my heart. Glorious!

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Dec 31, 2021 Elle rated it really liked it

Recommended to Elle by: Carrie | Boston Book Fanatic

Shelves: netgalley, mystery-book-club, from-publisher, 2021

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 th ...more

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Jan 24, 2021 Sharon Metcalf rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2021, netgalley, 2021-netgalley-challenge, owned, 2021-ng-group-challenge

4.5 stars

When I read Salt Houses by Hala Alyan I was blown away by her superb writing and the characters she created so it's fair to say I was super enthused about reading her latest novel Arsonist's City.    That enthusiasm was well rewarded within moments of starting and never let up.     Alyan's prologue had me in its grips from the first sentence to the last, her words instantly transporting me to a refugee camp in Beirut where she set the scene for a violent death, retribution for a past wr 4.5 stars

When I read Salt Houses by Hala Alyan I was blown away by her superb writing and the characters she created so it's fair to say I was super enthused about reading her latest novel Arsonist's City.    That enthusiasm was well rewarded within moments of starting and never let up.     Alyan's prologue had me in its grips from the first sentence to the last, her words instantly transporting me to a refugee camp in Beirut where she set the scene for a violent death, retribution for a past wrong doing.   Within in a few short pages she built tension, introduced a religious war, created a character to care about, introduced two others by association, and revealed a pivotal event which would change many lives.

Part One was a complete change of pace from the Prologue.   It quickly became apparent Alyan's story had leapt forward by thirty or forty years as readers were introduced to three siblings, Ava, Mimi and Naj.    We come to understand they're the adult offspring of Mazna and Idris the two others mentioned in the Prologue.     Not only do we find out their secrets and inner thoughts but we learn something of their backgrounds and their present day lives.    Alyan has an incredible talent for creating realistic and delightfully flawed characters with such depth to each one.   As readers you may cheer on or be appalled by their actions but you can't fail to feel the tug and pull of their desires and appreciate the mindset that lead them to behave that way.

As the story progressed it alternated between the present and the past.   We hear how and why Mazna and Idris married, how he'd been granted asylum and moved to America.    Individually they dreamed big.   Idris was to become a heart specialist whilst Mazna yearned for Hollywood.     Acting was the thing for which she'd achieved a small measure of success in Damascus and she hoped to put this artistic talent to good use in America.    Unfortunately, assimilation was not so easy.

For much of the present day storyline the Nasr family were all together in Beirut.   Back in the family home for one last time before Idris sells it.      This alone was a divisive issue but as is often the case when families spend extended periods of time together things are off key.     They grated on each other.   They squabbled.   Long repressed jealousies and resentments rose to the surface.     A recurring theme throughout was "People deserve to have their secrets" and my goodness did this family have plenty.      From lies of omission to outright deceptions.    This family's love for each other was complex but as they spent more time together in miniscule ways they seemed to be gelling and getting closer.

Like the Nasr family the story was complex and multilayered and
I've struggled to do justice to this book as there were so many topics I wanted to touch upon.    The lasting impacts of war and the lives of refugees.    The loneliness of moving to a faraway land, the immigrant experience of never truly and fully assimilating due to cultural differences.   The need for secrets and dramatic steps taken to keep them. The joys of being blessed with artistic talents and the disappointments and frustrations of having to suppress these same qualities.    So many missed opportunities and loves lost.   I was moved by the story and the writing and would encourage other readers to give this book a try.     Meanwhile I'll be watching out for any future book Alyan writes. She's not to be missed.

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide.
4.5 stars on Goodreads ...more

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Mar 21, 2021 Jordan (Jordy’s Book Club) rated it it was amazing

QUICK-ISH TAKE: Taking placeover the course of several decades, TAC is 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.⁣
⁣
Like all multigeneratio ...more

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Apr 18, 2020 Fanna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: diaspora, literary-realistic-fiction-drama, 2021-releases, adult-fiction, political-undertone, family-parents-siblings, set-in-middle-east, wishlist, read-an-early-version, muslim-mc

Following the death of a grandfather and the decision to sell the ancestral home in Beirut, this family of a Lebanese father, a Syrian mother, and three Arab-American children find themselves under the same roof for some time, with a purpose to either stick with what has once been finalised by the father, the new patriarch of this family, or with an aim to reverse this determination — as thought by the mother and supported by the children.

Immensely uplifted with an excellent character developme ...more

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May 04, 2020 Etaf Rum rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

“I didn’t think I could love The Arsonists’ City as much as Salt Houses, but I did. It was sharp, thought-provoking; I couldn’t put it down. Hala Alyan is a lyrical force, a much needed voice in Arab-American literature.

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Apr 06, 2021 luce ❀ wishfully reading ❀ semi hiatus rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-edelweiss, 2021-reviews, iv-good-reads, my-feelings, lgbtqia, poignant-reads

❀ blog ❀ thestorygraph ❀ letterboxd ❀ tumblr ❀ ko-fi ❀

3 ½ stars

Moving through space (America, Lebanon, Syria) and time (from the 1960s to 2019) The Arsonists' City tells a sprawling yet engrossing tale about the Nasr, a Syrian-Lebanese-American family. Written with the same subtlety and beauty as her debut novel, The Arsonists' City presents readers with a cast of fully-fleshed out characters, however flawed or frustrating they may be, a rich exploration of the Nasrs' personal and cultural id ...more

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Jan 21, 2021 Athena (OneReadingNurse) rated it liked it

Thanks so much to Bookish First and HMH (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) for the advanced copy of The Arsonists’ City in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

This is an extremely rich and nuanced look into family, life, heritage, and identity, but I struggled with whether or not to feature this one on the blog. I try really hard to stick to cleaner content these days and there are more than a few mature sexual situations & adultery in this one, but there’s also a discourse on human Thanks so much to Bookish First and HMH (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) for the advanced copy of The Arsonists’ City in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

This is an extremely rich and nuanced look into family, life, heritage, and identity, but I struggled with whether or not to feature this one on the blog. I try really hard to stick to cleaner content these days and there are more than a few mature sexual situations & adultery in this one, but there’s also a discourse on humanity, immigration, and reconciliation that as a 30-something, I could appreciate, and hey, we are all adults here.

I was originally interested in this book because allegedly my grandfather was a random Syrian exchange student’s brother, and I sometimes feel interested in Syrian books assuming he came from the actual motherland.

So let’s just discuss content first because it’ s the first thing that anyone reading the book encounters. A man is murdered in the prologue, and it sets the whole book up to be super dramatic and interesting and I am thinking “oh boy this is going to be good!!” Then the next thing you know one of the characters is on her stomach thinking about a deflated condom, like, shit. So now I have to remember her depressing sex life throughout the rest of the book, and it’s a theme through all the characters’ chapters, including a heavy discussion of the gay sibling’s sexuality, which is tied to Beirut’s youth culture in general somehow. Between that and pretty much everyone either contemplating or committing adultery at some point, I am like… Well sex is not what I want to read, and it’s depressing.

But it’s part of life, which along with death, are major themes of the book. Idris and Mazna immigrated to America on asylum when he started his surgical residency, leaving his ancestral house behind. Years later once Idris’ father dies and the house is empty of family he decides to sell it – which brings the scattered family all back together. In Beirut. For one very enlightening summer.

Each of the three siblings and Mazna the mother, were the chapter points of view. This sorted into the present (the kids) and past (Mazna). It is always interesting to see people struggle bus through their 30s in slice of life style, because that’s me, but a big part of me just didn’t care. Mazna’s story was legitimately interesting with her life between Damascus and Beirut, and seeing the war, plus being brown in America once they immigrated. None of the characters were really likeable for me though, like I wanted to like Mazna but she’s so stubborn and then hooked up with that film guy, plus she took Idris (a heart surgeon) for a total moron.

The book spent a LOT of time building each character. It is kind of the point of the book, but some parts involving the siblings were just boring to me. I didn’t care about Marwan’s band or Ava’s cheating husband, or even Naj, even though she had the most interesting life by far it was all flings and drugs and music. Once they got to Beirut and all the secrets started coming out, it got more interesting.

There were so many side characters mentioned too that I just couldn’t keep track… Many of them not horribly relevant but still.

I can relate a lot of the book to real life though – for example – being entitled to our secrets, and maybe not needing to know all of our parent’s secrets. Also learning that we (as adults) are maybe a little bit more like them than we like to admit.

I know this is a book that a lot of people are loving for Alyan’s fantastic writing style and the story of love, loss, immigration, and familial reconciliation that she tells, and I don’t blame them at all. I think fans of the genre will love this. I just found it to be a 12 day long snooze fest when the kids were featured and I was limited to one rather long chapter at a time. ...more

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Feb 27, 2021 Jill rated it it was amazing

“I think people deserve to have their secrets.”

Every character in The Arsonists’ City has his or her own secrets. They are all enigmas, not only to those around them, but also to themselves. And now all of them—the Syrian mother Mazna and her Lebanese cardiologist husband Idris and their three grown children, Ava, Mimi and Naj—are about to come together in the ancestral home in Beirut for the first time in years.

This is a novel that mines deepest emotions—long ago passions secret loves, rivalrie ...more

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Dec 15, 2020 Swati rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: smitha

Shelves: fiction, contemporary-fiction, arc, kindle, middle-east

Where do I even begin to talk about Hala Alyan’s “The Arsonists’ City”? How can I gather all the feelings and observations and emotions it brims with and crush them into this miniscule capsule? For Alyan’s novel sprawls across countries – Syria, Lebanon, America – people, and, most of all, matters of the heart.

This is a multi-generational story that begins with Idris’ decision to sell the family house in Beirut, which becomes a cause for the entire family – Idris, his wife Mazna, and their thre ...more

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Mar 25, 2021 Holly R W rated it it was amazing

Shelves: coming-of-age, fiction, lgbtq, romance, family, music, middle-eastern-culture

The outstanding books that I read have all been absorbing from the first page on. The Arsonists' City is such a book. This is the second book I have read written by Hala Alyan. Like Salt Houses, the novel is about a family of Arab descent spanning through four generations. A major portion of the novel is spent in both Beirut, Lebanon (where the father is from) and Damascus, Syria (the mother's city).

The central characters are Mazna (the mother) and Idris (the father) and their three children, a ...more

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Oct 03, 2020 Blue rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, contemporary

"Tonight the man will die. In some ways, the city already seems resigned to it, the Beirut dusk uncharacteristically flat, cloudy, a peculiar staleness rippling through the trees like wind"

I received an Arc from Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in exchange of an honest review

Star rating- 3.25
Technical rating- 7.5/10
Enjoyment rating- 4/10

This is one of those books that made me question how I review books. I was constantly thinking about how I'm going to rate this. I didn't want to rate i ...more

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Apr 08, 2021 Sheena rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, literary-fiction, audiobook

The Arsonists’ City is a family drama saga taking place in Beruit and all across the United States. It is very character driven and focuses in depth of each character. It tells the tale of the Nasr family - the children and the parents, moving between present day and the past of how the parents met. I think that the emotional depth of human emotion was captured quite well. The writing was very beautiful and poetic.

I did like this however I did think it was a little too long and slow for my liki ...more

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Mar 13, 2022 fatma rated it it was ok

Shelves: arab, multigenerational, lgbtqia

Frustrating, irritating, infuriating, yes, but more than anything, The Arsonists' City was just a deeply, deeply unpleasant book.

This book reminded me of The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo, which is just about the most damning indictment I can give it. There are some books I dislike, and there are some books I actively hate. This was the latter.

Let's begin with the characters, who are, according to what I've written in the notes on my phone, "absolutely fucking insufferable." And I ...more

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Apr 30, 2021 Phyllis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: location-syria, topic-family-multigenerational, 2021reading, category-fiction, location-uscalifornia, topic-migration-displacement, topic-americana, published-2020s, topic-war-insurrection-revolution, topic-music-musicians

I really enjoyed this multi-generational story of the Nasr and Adib families, with their origins in Lebanon and Syria, and eventual spread across America. It is well-told and well-written, with deeply loveable (though fallible) & compelling characters and rich settings. I want more from Ms. Alyan, please.

It begins in 2019 with the three adult children. Ava is a botanist in Brooklyn, New York, married to Nate and with two small children Rayan and Zina. Mimi (aka Marwan) is a lead singer & guitari ...more

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Nov 21, 2021 Ming rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Just a truly enjoyable read. Beautiful writing (please see my many highlights), smart and thoughtful plotting, affecting/poignant tone.

I don't recall where I first heard about this book. It was a list...perhaps some book awards or something (Found the list: https://www.aspenwords.org/programs/l... . After seeing the general description, I picked it up immediately (dropping my other in-progress book).

In any case, this book is gorgeous. And I'd readily read this author's future works.

The characte ...more

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Oct 15, 2020 ↠Ameerah↞ marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021, lebanese-lit

After reading and loving Salt Houses I'm excited to read this. Hala's writing is exquisite!

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with an eARC of this novel via NetGalley. ...more

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Apr 29, 2022 Elle Samuels rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, best-of-2021, family-drama

This. Book. Was. Amazing. A detailed look into the past, future, and current lives of the Nasr family. It starts with a death and ends with hope for forgiveness and finally happiness, with a whole lot of drama, tension, and flawed humanity in between.

We zig-zag back and forth between Idris and Mazna and their three grown children, Mimi, Naj, and Ava. We get intimate details on their relationships, their love and heartbreak, their flaws and their disappointments, and resentment. So so much resen ...more

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Apr 01, 2021 switterbug (Betsey) rated it it was amazing

Throughout the novel, as I was reading, I kept hearing the Neko Case song, “Hold On, Hold On,” about how it is safer to be around strangers, as the familiar was too dangerous. That sums up the Nasr family’s approach, living apart from each other due to guilt, shame, and relationship issues. Mazna (from Damascus) and Idris (from Beirut) met in the 70s, while Mazna was doing local theater, dreaming of becoming a famous actress, and Idris was in medical school, pursuing a career as a surgeon. They Throughout the novel, as I was reading, I kept hearing the Neko Case song, “Hold On, Hold On,” about how it is safer to be around strangers, as the familiar was too dangerous. That sums up the Nasr family’s approach, living apart from each other due to guilt, shame, and relationship issues. Mazna (from Damascus) and Idris (from Beirut) met in the 70s, while Mazna was doing local theater, dreaming of becoming a famous actress, and Idris was in medical school, pursuing a career as a surgeon. They met through friends, and Idris fell instantly for Mazna when he saw her onstage. Now it is (pre-pandemic) contemporary times, and Mazna and Idris have lived in Blythe, California for nearly four decades, and their three children are scattered around the globe. This is their story.

The Nasr family FaceTimes and Zooms, calls and texts each other, from a distance, but the secrets they carry erect an invisible wall that they hide behind, and from one another. But now Idris’ father has died, and he wants to sell the ancestral home in Beirut. The urgency and the looming past create a reluctant gathering at the old house.

The prologue, as well as subsequent chapters, often gives away a climactic event, so it isn’t about “What is going to happen?” Rather, the intrigue lies in the reactions, conflicts, and fears when secrets are mounting to the surface. Events are periodically predictable, but it doesn’t diminish the tension. It’s all about the characters and theme. Can you go home? What is home? How do shameful secrets destroy you, and when is it fitting to reveal these buried skeletons? Who can you trust, and have you betrayed or been betrayed? How does trauma affect the next generation? The narrative alternates characters and time periods, gradually filling in everyone’s backstory. Mazna’s story is the most blistering and dramatic.

ARSONIST’S CITY is epic, emotional, tragic, and redemptive. Ava is the oldest child of Mazna and Idris, a mother of two little ones, struggling in her marriage. The middle child, Naj, left America for Beirut after graduating college, and became a celebrity rock star. But she knows the industry is fickle, whimsical. Moreover, she keeps secrets from her family, and sleeps around a lot. Mimi is the boy, the baby, but as an adult he is flailing in Austin, trying to make it as a musical artist, but jealously not up to his sister’s talent. His relationship with his long-time girlfriend, Harper, is stagnant.

Mazna, Idris, and their three kids (and Ava’s two children and Harper) meet in Beirut in the house that Idris grew up in and wants to sell. However, the rest of the family conflicts with Idris, are horrified, and want the home to stay in the family. Throughout this summer of togetherness, the narrative reaches down deeper, and mines their lives, past and present. But it is Mazna’s story that gives the narrative its heft. And, even as she grew up during war between Syria and Lebanon, and the occupation of Beirut by Syria, Mazna experiences the war from a place of safety, as if she is witnessing a ten-car pileup outside the window of her own intact vehicle. This story isn’t about war, but it is part of the landscape and affects all its citizens. Mazna dreams of a career in America, a place she can be a serious thespian and play any role.

“Films make people sad, Mazna is slowly understanding. They remind people of a time that is over or a time they’ve never been part of…Theater is the same. It’s heartbreaking because it will end, because people will become a part of the story and then be abandoned by it. She’s aware of this during rehearsals as she repeats the same lines…learning to let her hands flutter naturally, playing with tone and volume. She’s lying to a roomful of people. She is going to break their hearts.”

Read it and weep! ...more

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Feb 14, 2021 MiA rated it it was ok

Shelves: contemporary, dnf, netgalley, migrancy-and-refugees

First of all, Hala Alyan is a true wordsmith.
There is no arguing the excellence in her craft, the vividness of her imagery and her acute perception of human nature. I simply wanted to swoon over her words. I cracked a smile every time she nailed the description of the Arab disposition whether she meant a person or a nation (I probably should note that I'm an Arab who lived most of her life in what is universally dubbed as the Middle East).

Nevertheless, the book left me at a loss. It opened magni First of all, Hala Alyan is a true wordsmith.
There is no arguing the excellence in her craft, the vividness of her imagery and her acute perception of human nature. I simply wanted to swoon over her words. I cracked a smile every time she nailed the description of the Arab disposition whether she meant a person or a nation (I probably should note that I'm an Arab who lived most of her life in what is universally dubbed as the Middle East).

Nevertheless, the book left me at a loss. It opened magnificently with a scene from a refugees camp of a man being dragged out of camp and beaten to death for an act he has committed. That scene ended there and then without explanation and I couldn't relate the rest of the story to that gripping beginning.

The story shifts to three long chapters comprising Part I. The three children of the Nasr Family, Palestinian-Syrian immigrants, are leading different lives. Ava, the eldest, is a biologist by day and upper class burnt out wife by night. Marwan, the middle child, is an ageing artist, who couldn't make it big on the music scene. Naj is an uprising musical phenomenon who struggles with her sexuality. One day their father decides to sell their house in Beirut, the only property they still held onto on Arab soil before immigrating to the States. The family makes the trip back to Beirut. Because each chapter was so long, it felt like a collection of novellas.

The story shifts again to Mazna's, their mother, childhood and early youth. in a period marked by political upheavals during the Lebanese Civil War and the Syrian Occupation of Lebanon.

After a huge lump of narrative, we find ourselves back again into the children's lives as they make the trip to the summer house in Beirut. and the cycle, laboriously, repeats itself.

I understand that the shifting timelines between the children's individual stories and that of their mother were meant as a juxtaposition, but the huge chunks of storylines paired with elaborating on the minutest details of the sex life of each character instead of alternating between timelines at a more accelerating pace completely defeated the purpose.

The story spiralled into ZWARIB (alleyways and deadends), to borrow Ava's description of her mother's conversations.

Although the Nasr family are described as "progressive", the book had many stereotypes: the queer rockstar, the burnt-out upper-crust wife. Another downside was the multitude of topics Alyan brushed over (Hezbollah Bombings, Syrian revolution, Lebanese Civil War, Syrian occupation of Lebanon, the refugees' crisis, the Lebanese civil war, immigration, sexual identities, adultery, siblings rivalry). It was dizzying.

This is a very ambitious book. The writing is beyond doubt beautiful. But I got lost in the midst of everything it attempted to accomplish. ...more

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Feb 20, 2021 Kimberly rated it it was amazing

The Arsonists' City is a beautiful, multigenerational tale about family, love, and secrets. I adored every page and would recommend it to anyone who who enjoys long, multilayered stories. ...more

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Apr 29, 2021 Bruce Katz rated it really liked it

Shelves: american-fiction, middle-east

3.5 rounded up. And done with great internal conflict. Most of the way through the book I was torn between 4 and 5. But then...

Before I go any further, let me get this out of the way: This is an extraordinary book, truly. I sincerely recommend it to anyone who likes well-written, thoughtful, insightful, and compelling fiction. Full stop. Don't let anything I write here dissuade you from reading "The Arsonists' City." The problems I had with it are almost certainly a consequence of my tastes and 3.5 rounded up. And done with great internal conflict. Most of the way through the book I was torn between 4 and 5. But then...

Before I go any further, let me get this out of the way: This is an extraordinary book, truly. I sincerely recommend it to anyone who likes well-written, thoughtful, insightful, and compelling fiction. Full stop. Don't let anything I write here dissuade you from reading "The Arsonists' City." The problems I had with it are almost certainly a consequence of my tastes and expectations.

Summaries of the plot are plentiful on GR (a man, now living in America, decides to sell his family home in Beirut, thereby setting off an extended, event-filled meditation on memory, connection, history, and hopes denied), so I'll skip that to make a few broad points. Alyan is utterly brilliant in depicting multi-generational families: their secrets, frustrated desires, jealousies, failures, broken dreams, self-delusions ("she loves the idea of herself as loyal to modest living"), resentments, and yes, their moments of generosity and tenderness . (No surprise: She's a psychologist.) The people in "Arsonists' City' just come alive with all their warts and contradictions. They act unexpectedly and not often well, jump to mistaken conclusions and do stupid things, hold grudges... Alyan gives voice to how immigrants and their born-in-America children see the world so differently. The relationships are so complicated (and sometimes confusing: who is this character again? is s/he a sibling? Cousin? Old friend? -- but it all gets sorted out), so real. They have complicated relationships to the past, to the places the family came from. In short, it's a compelling story, deftly told.

Alyan is also brilliant in capturing aspects of daily life in Beirut (and to a lesser degree, Damascus) that are entirely different from the impression most Americans form in response to news reports. Beirutis lead normal lives, shop in supermarkets, go to dance clubs and fancy restaurants, while in the background, fires and outbreaks of violence occur. Let one passage serve to suggest all: It's disgusting outside, the humid, smothering days of early July in Beirut, steam everywhere, the streets filled with the smell of garbage. Everyone's cranky and the traffic is a disaster; people have been protesting the new parliament, which is really the old parliament, since nobody new ever gets elected, and posters of those men's faces, crossed out, decorate every corner... They're protesting the piles of garbage, the old-new men, the corruption and high electricity bills. Naj always thinks about the fires -- the protesters are unhappy with the city, so they set fire to it. It makes no sense. And poverty, Palestinian refugee camps, racism, collisions between the past and the present. (Unsurprisingly, given the title, fires -- both real and psychological -- flare up frequently in the book. Alyan chose her title well. Its significance dawns over time in the reader's mind, this reader at least.)

The writing is well-crafted and evocative. I have to say, Alyan does love her similes. The book has lots of them: "the sun has begun to rise, pastel as a baby blanket"; "sometimes [her] life feels like a seat left sightly warm for her"; "there is something peculiar about seeing an unlived-in house so clean and preserved, like a dog awaiting its dead owner"; "Beirut was where her life at cracked like a thin ankle". "They outshine the dated establishments like puppies in a pound." Yeah, some work better than others.

So: great characters, a compelling story, perceptive and artfully drawn depictions of life and culture, striking portraits of foreign places -- what made me drop from 250+ pages of unalloyed enthusiasm to "loved-the-book-but" attached? The ending, that's what. Not necessarily how things are wrapped up (though I felt a little of that) but something else. As I said above, maybe it's me, my own tastes and limitations, but I found myself thinking 'this is the final chapter... no, this is... no, this is. I felt like the book didn't want to stop (like the interminable multiple endings in the final Lord of the Rings movie: an allusion I make specifically with my daughter in mind). The ending, viewed from afar, struck me as superfluous. I found myself impatiently wondering why the author felt the need to add this scene, this coda, this brief chapter. After loving the book up to this point, the final pages left me a little annoyed. Annoyed but wanting everyone to read the book.

But that's me. Most readers found the book nearly flawless. Trust them -- there are some splendid reviews on GR. "Arsonists' City" deserves every bit of it. ...more

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May 03, 2021 Tamara Agha-Jaffar rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-east-and-africa, fiction, historical-fiction, books-i-ve-reviewed, women-of-color, 2021-read-women, 2021-reading-challenge, favorites

The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan is a multi-generational family saga about a Lebanese/Syrian family. The patriarch is Idris Nasr, a Lebanese, married to Mazna, a Syrian. Their three children are Ava, Mimi (Marwan), and Naj (Najla). Apart from Naj who lives in Beirut, the family all live in America. Set mostly against the backdrop of a Lebanon emerging from sectarian tensions and civil war, the novel covers a span of about 40 years. The focus is on Mazna and her adult children. Their challenges The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan is a multi-generational family saga about a Lebanese/Syrian family. The patriarch is Idris Nasr, a Lebanese, married to Mazna, a Syrian. Their three children are Ava, Mimi (Marwan), and Naj (Najla). Apart from Naj who lives in Beirut, the family all live in America. Set mostly against the backdrop of a Lebanon emerging from sectarian tensions and civil war, the novel covers a span of about 40 years. The focus is on Mazna and her adult children. Their challenges and personal demons are gradually revealed through temporal shifts and locations alternating between Damascus, America, and Beirut.

The novel opens in 1978 when Zakaria, a young Palestinian refugee, is murdered in Lebanon in an act of sectarian revenge. The novel goes back to 1965 to introduce a young Mazna in Damascus, an aspiring actress with dreams of becoming a Hollywood movie star. Through a mutual friend, she meets Idris in 1978 who becomes totally besotted with her. And through Idris, she meets Zakaria. The three become involved in a love triangle when Mazna and Zakaria fall passionately in love and make plans for a future together. Their love affair comes to a screeching halt with Zakaria’s murder.

Shortly after Zakaria’s death, Idris is accepted in medical school in California. He proposes to Mazna with lures of Hollywood fame. A broken-hearted Mazna accepts his proposal, resigning herself to a marriage with a man she does not love. Forty years later when Idris decides to sell the Beirut ancestral home he inherited from his father, he causes a family uproar. The family converges in Beirut to hold a memorial for Idris’ father and to protest the sale of the home.

In this character-driven novel, Alyan excels in creating authentic, believable, and multi-dimensional characters beset with sibling jealousies and rivalry, marital bickering, simmering resentments, petty squabbles, thwarted aspirations, and ongoing deceptions. The ebb and flow of their relationships as they push away from one another or pull toward one another realistically capture the complexity of family dynamics. Each character is fully fleshed out, unique, flawed, and realistically drawn. The dialogue is natural with its pauses, hesitations, things said, and things left unsaid. Secrets buried for forty years bubble to the surface. Added to the mix are first and second generation struggles with issues of forced migration, displacement, fractured identity, questions of belonging, assimilation, and loss of homeland.

This complex, multi-layered novel grips the reader from the first pages of its riveting prologue depicting a revenge murder to the last pages depicting the resiliency of the Nasr family bond. Alyan’s finely drawn characters, intricate storytelling, masterful pacing, and sparkling prose attest to her skill as an accomplished writer well-deserving of the accolades she has received.

A compelling family saga. Highly recommended.

My book reviews are also available at www.tamaraaghajaffar.com ...more

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Apr 01, 2021 Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: middle-east, family-saga, immigrants

What a wonderful novel - what a wonderful ride - I did not want it to end! This is a family saga with family members who are well described and brought to life. There is a little of everything a family saga should contain: lost love, sibling rivalry, jealousy, lost careers (a woman, of course), marriage and its ups and downs and more. However, there is much more. There is war, which raged in Beirut for 15 years and affected each character, whether directly or indirectly. There is the treatment o ...more

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Feb 28, 2021 Katherine Younkin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery

Hala Alyan’s gripping family saga had me awake reading in the early hours. This is a novel filled with family secrets, drama, sorrow, and joy. I couldn’t stop myself from being pulled into the lives of the Nasrs. The plot dynamic revolves around Idris, a cardiothoracic surgeon, and his wife, Mazna, going back to Beirut, Lebanon, for the summer after Idris’s father dies. Idris has decided to sell the home he has inherited, which has been in the family for years. Mazna has used her considerable sk Hala Alyan’s gripping family saga had me awake reading in the early hours. This is a novel filled with family secrets, drama, sorrow, and joy. I couldn’t stop myself from being pulled into the lives of the Nasrs. The plot dynamic revolves around Idris, a cardiothoracic surgeon, and his wife, Mazna, going back to Beirut, Lebanon, for the summer after Idris’s father dies. Idris has decided to sell the home he has inherited, which has been in the family for years. Mazna has used her considerable skills to guilt and cajole her adult son and daughter to come, too. Ava, the daughter, is an academician, and Mimi (Marwan), the son, is a chef who’d like to be a successful musician. Mazna is ambivalent about the trip, knowing it will stir up old memories and feelings she thought she had put behind her. As a young adult, she was on her way to acting stardom before she married Idris and, ironically, before she moved to California, where her acting dream died.
The history of the relationship between Idris and Mazna forms the core of the novel. Mazna, a Damascan, captured Idris’s attention as she performed on the stage in plays. He becomes obsessed with her and often invites her to Beirut for the weekend without her parents’ knowledge. They are an unlikely couple, a Lebanese man and a Syrian girl. In Beirut, Mazna meets Idris’s family and friends. At first, Mazna is overwhelmed with the apparent wealth of Idris’s family. She is much more comfortable with Idris’s best friend, Zacharia, raised like a brother to Idris. Mazna finds out that Zakaria is the housekeeper’s son, and when he isn’t staying with Idris, he lives in the Palestinian camps. Mazna falls for Zakaria and uses Idris’s invitations to his home to keep seeing him. This tragic love story becomes the basis for a family secret revealed when the family comes together in Beirut to sell the house years later.
The love triangle is only one of the family’s secrets that is exposed. Ava finds out that her marriage is unraveling. Naj, a younger sister to Ava and Mimi who has a successful music career in Beirut, comes out as gay to her brother and sister. Mimi learns the depths of his jealousy for his sister’s music career.
This is a complicated, big story with lots of characters, damaged relationships, and humorous moments. The tensions in Lebanon and Syria provide the backdrop for several love stories. I was amazed at Alyan’s ability to flesh out her characters. As you read, you feel you come to know the personalities. Her psychological insight into people is profound. I didn’t want the book to end. I want to caution readers that some may not like the rough language (mostly F-bombs) and adult situations. For me, the book was utterly absorbing. I recommend it to readers who enjoy sagas and learning about other cultures.
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
...more

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Jul 30, 2020 Courtney Sieloff rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley

Thanks to NetGally and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the early access! I received this book for free through NetGally in return for an honest review.

This book is a beautifully written, old-fashioned story. What I mean by that is that it is an elegant read, with surprises and insight, delving into relationships at a deep level. It's slow in places, but more languid than dull. It doesn't race, but it doesn't need to because the secrets kept continue to shock. It's also not a plot driven story, so Thanks to NetGally and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the early access! I received this book for free through NetGally in return for an honest review.

This book is a beautifully written, old-fashioned story. What I mean by that is that it is an elegant read, with surprises and insight, delving into relationships at a deep level. It's slow in places, but more languid than dull. It doesn't race, but it doesn't need to because the secrets kept continue to shock. It's also not a plot driven story, so much as it's relationship-driven. Its in these details that the story moves forward.

Set in Damascus, Beirut, and Blyth California, this is a story of multiple generations tied together by secrets. Idris, a doctor living in California with his wife Mazna, has decided he needs to sell his childhood home in Beirut, following the passing of his father. Mazna insists that their children Ava, in Brooklyn, and Mimi, in Austin bring their families to Beirut to hold a memorial service. The youngest child, Naj already lives there, as she is a wildly famous musician. The trip happens, and from here we dive into the complicated pasts and presents of each member of their family, where secrets are revealed and others are kept.

We seem to spend the most time with Mazna, as her actions tend to drive the story. We meet her as a young, poor, stunningly beautiful woman desperate to become an actress. She falls in love and this changes the course of her life. We meet Mimi, who is struggling to find himself and his place in the world. He is overshadowed by his younger sister's musical career, but doesn't know quite where he should dedicate his time. Naj may have been my favorite character. She is passionate and indulgent, and while she may seem lost, she is the most driven of the siblings. She feels completely, and is the truest to herself, even when she wants to escape. Ava surprised me. There were details in each character that were a surprise, and made them feel more real. The fact that she was a poker player was more than an interesting detail; it gave a well-placed indication of why she acted and reacted the way she did. I initially got the impression that Idris wasn't as deep as the other characters, or that his life view was more simple, but as the story grew, it was clear he understood more than he tended to let on.

The characters are so well-developed, and the author moves gently between each one, allowing them to breath and exist. They are raw and emotional, with real human energy. I often found myself believing that one character would be the lead of the story, but because each character had such depth, that image of each shifted into being. The Syrian-Lebanon war acts as almost another character, ever present throughout the generational story.

Even the supporting characters are well-written and interesting. Jo, Fee, Nate, Sara, Merry, and others are given their own rich stories.

The book moves throughout time periods, giving us different views into the motivations and movements of each character, in a way that seemed natural. It allowed the reader to be surprised to have the insight that explained plot lines already introduced.

As I got to the final chapters, I was holding my breath, afraid each one would be the last chapter, until it was. When I wasn't actively reading the book, I was thinking about the characters. This is one of those books that sits with you, which is really the best sort of book. I'm excited for this book to come out - I want to recommend it to friends, and I hope it gets the excellent press it deserves.

*I did notice several typos in the version I received, and I hope they will be edited by the time this goes to print* ...more

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Jan 08, 2022 Laura Dvorak rated it it was amazing

A *perfect* book.

Had I finished this in 2021, it would have rivaled THE FIVE WOUNDS for my top book of the year. The two share quite a lot: big family saga, secrets between generations, rooted in a specific place and culture. The prose is so sharp, the characters so deeply drawn...I could have read another 450pgs of this. A must read if you love a big book about family that isn't trite or cliche. ...more

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Jun 23, 2020 Seema Rao rated it really liked it

Lyrical, compelling, emotional. Well done family story in a perilous backdrop. I tore through it because it was so engrossing. Meditations on home and family like this one are particularly important now.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Arc in exchange for an honest review.

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May 23, 2021 Royce rated it liked it

Hala Alyan’s writing is so very good,but this novel is filled to the brim with too many details and characters obscuring the beautiful writing. Also, it felt as if she was trying to pack too many historical events into the story. I enjoyed her first novel, Salt Houses more than this one.

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About Hala Alyan

Hala Alyan

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Hala Alyan is an award-winning Palestinian American poet, novelist and clinical psychologist whose work has appeared in numerous journals including The Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner and Colorado Review. She resides in Brooklyn with her husband.