With his parents evacuated after the Israeli siege of Beirut, 18-year-old Ivan is enjoying his first taste of freedom. With his Danish passport and foreign looks, he spends his days working and flirting in the camp hospital, traveling with journalists and doing package drops for the PLO. But when Israeli troops enter the city, chaos breaks out and Ivan is cut-off from friends and foes alike, forcing him to face what it means to be free in a city under siege.
When I received this book I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I found was a coming of age story set in one of the worst periods in Lebanese history from the point of view of a young man still coming to terms with who he is. For all he has seen, done and lived through, Ivan is a relative innocent until the moment the Israeli troops invade West Beirut. You feel for him as he tries to understand, how after everything that has happened at Sabra, life can possibly go on.
The book is was a quicker read that I would have expected but it can be a bit confusing if, like me, you’re not that familiar with the history and politics of the Middle East. But this book isn’t about taking sides. This is a human story set in a place we often write off because the conflict is a matter of everyday life; that the people there are immune to their situation. But war always changes people. This book gives us insight into the conflict within the individual to find the courage and strength to continue to live with circumstances of war.
