A Girl Made of Dust

May 18, 2009
This debut novel, written by a woman who experienced firsthand the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the 1980s, weaves the horrors of war with the love and devotion of family. Ruba is seven years old, living in a small Christian village outside of Beirut during the Israeli invasion. Her father is depressed and lethargic; her older brother, Naji, avoids the family, more interested in guns and the local thugs. As the conflict draws closer to the town, causing acts of inhumanity based on religious differences, Ruba learns a secret from her father’s past that forces her to face the reality and cruelty around her. Abi-Ezzi walks the delicate tightrope between man’s inhumanity and the power and strength family members must draw upon in order to survive. The book is beautifully written, lyrical, with vivid, sensual descriptions that are sophisticated yet completely believable as experienced and retained by a child. (“My bedroom smelt of cotton and books, Mami and Papi’s room smelled of ironed sheets.”) This disturbing, beautiful book, in turn hopeful and despairing, brings clarity and compassion to an untenable situation.