Dreams of Water by Nada Awar Jarrar - first published in 2007
Set in Beirut and London and spanning the period of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-90) to the present day. After Aneesha's brother Bassam is taken from his home by rebels and never seen again, she moves to London to start a new life. She becomes friends with Salah, who is also Lebanese and was persuaded to move to London by his son Samir after the death of his wife. After a few years in London and the end of the Civil War, Aneesha decides to return to Beirut to support her mother who volunteers at an orphanage and has become convinced that a boy called Ramzi, who was born on the same day Bassam disappeared, is actually Bassam reincarnated. Salah dies in London and Samir returns to Beirut to sort out his parents flat. He falls in love with Aneesha but just as everything in the story is coming together, it all falls apart. The book is a very smooth and easy read even though it constantly jumps backwards and forwards in time and place without letting the reader know when and where they are. It gives a flavour of life in Beirut but it is like looking at the city through a fine mist, as there aren't many details. It would have been good to have had a glossary of Lebanese terms for food, musical instruments, areas of Beirut and terms of endearment. 6/10
10th January 2011
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