Happy Pub Day to The Arsonists’ City…
“A house divided cannot stand.”
This is first and foremost a generational famaily saga BUT with Hala Alyan writing it it becomes something more…something unique and special. Alyan knows how to write characters that resonate and leap off the page. What amazes me about her writing (she also did this in Salt Houses) is she allows her characters to drive the plot with insight on geographical and political issues in a way that anyone can understand.
Summary - The Nasr family is spread across the globeBeirut, Brooklyn, Austin, the California desert. A Syrian mother, a Lebanese father, and three American children: all have lived a life of migration. Still, theyve always had their ancestral home in Beiruta constant touchstoneand the complicated, messy family love that binds them. But following his father’s recent death, Idris, the family’s new patriarch, has decided to sell.
Each chapter is a different child: Ava, Mimi, and Naj with flashbacks of their mother’s life. The stories intricately come together and so serious drama begins to unfold. Aside from one section that to me was too long, this book flew. I will read whatever Alyan writes.
Thank you @netgalley and @h Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for this free copy in exchange for my honest review
I highly recommend picking this one and Salt Houses up soon!
Find The Arsonists’ City at the publisher →
Toni Rocchetti is a copy editor helping authors strengthen their narratives, deepen character arcs, and find the story that is already in the draft. She reads 80+ books a year across literary fiction, memoir, and nonfiction — and writes about what she is learning along the way. Work with Toni →
