“In her wonderfully detailed parallel portraits of the brothers Salam, Gail Chehab deftly lays bare the tensions between tradition and change, Muslim and Christian, Beirut and Brooklyn. An unforgettable novel, but also an inside look at the effects of globalization on the lives of ordinary people.”
—Maxine Paetro, co-author of 4th of July and The Women’s Murder Club Series
“In America, Saleh finds success but no happiness in the American dream. Left behind, discontented Samir longs for New York and a chance to become a filmmaker. Abeba is a Kenyan girl taken from her home in a village to work in a laundry, and then to New York where she cleans offices. Saleh, Samir, and Abeba are members of ‘a generation lost in the rubble,’ a generation displaced by war and poverty. Rich in the sights and smells of Lebanese and African immigrant life, the book hums with a vibrant and irresistible authenticity.”
—Drusilla Campbell, author of Blood Orange and The Good Sister