The Story of Zahra

The Story of Zahra, Hanan al-Shaykh, Anchor Books, 1986

Set in the country of Lebanon, Zahra is a rather plain-looking and emotionally unstable young woman. She seems to spend too much time picking at her pimples. Her family life is difficult, characterized by abuse and deception by her parents. Her only sanctuary is to lock herself in the bathroom, for hours at a time. She flees the family, and goes to live with an uncle in political exile in Africa.

The uncle tells the story of his younger days as a political radical. He joined the Popular Syrian Party, which, in the 1940s, advocated a Greater Syria. What is now Lebanon was carved out of Syrian territory. He had plenty of ambition and energy, to the point where the party leaders had to tell him (to use a contemporary term) to chill out. In 1949, the party attempted a coup d'etat which failed. The uncle went into political exile instead of waiting to be arrested. While living with him, Zahra enters into a loveless marriage with Majed, another member of the Lebanese expatriate community.

According to Majed, one would think that all members of the expatriate community would stick together and help each other, being so far from home. The rich members are treated like royalty; the poorer members, like Majed, are treated like they are less than nothing. On their wedding night, Majed discovers that Zahra is not a virgin (in fact, she has had two abortions by another man). Things go downhill from there. Zahra eventually divorces him, and moves back to Beirut, right in the middle of the Lebanese Civil War.

Her parents are living in the south, away from the fighting. Ahmed, her brother, is one of the fighters, bringing items taken from other homes. Zahra lives alone in a world of fear and death, including from a sniper just down the street. She begins an affair with the sniper, in an attempt to divert him from his grisly task. Later, she goes to a doctor to be told that she is again pregnant, too far along for another abortion.

This is a quietly excellent piece of writing. Its portrayal of contemporary Lebanon from an Arab perspective, something about which few Americans are familiar, makes it an impressive, gripping story that is highly recommended.