The Arsonists' City

Hala Alyan

Mar 2021 · RB Media · Narrated by Leila Buck

About this audiobook

A rich family story, a personal look at the legacy of war in the Middle East, and an indelible rendering of how we hold on to the people and places we call home

The Nasr family is spread across the globe—Beirut, Brooklyn, Austin, the California desert. A Syrian mother, a Lebanese father, and three American children: all have lived a life of migration. Still, they’ve always had their ancestral home in Beirut—a constant touchstone—and 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.

The decision brings the family to Beirut, where everyone unites against Idris in a fight to save the house. They all have secrets—lost loves, bitter jealousies, abandoned passions, deep-set shame—that distance has helped smother. But in a city smoldering with the legacy of war, an ongoing flow of refugees, religious tension, and political
protest, those secrets ignite, imperiling the fragile ties that hold this family together.

In a novel teeming with wisdom, warmth, and characters born of remarkable human insight, the award-winning author Hala Alyan shows us again that “fiction is often the best filter for the real world around us” (NPR).

Ratings and reviews

The Arsonists’ City is a moving multigenerational story about family, politics, secrets and love. It’s also a personal glimpse into the war in the Middle East and it’s impact on so many families. The Nasr family is scattered around the globe, mother and father, Mazna and Idris, are immigrants to America from Syria and Lebanon. Their three children are American but have lived a life of migration. After his father passes away, Idris decides that it’s some to sell their ancestral home in Beirut, which they’ve kept for all these year. Due to local law, the entire family must travel to Beirut to complete the sale, where the family unites against Idris in an attempt to keep the house. Being together raises all of their secrets to the surface in a city with more than it’s share of drama – religious and political protest, the ongoing legacy of war, refugees. The story is told with a split timeline and the point of view alternating among the different characters. The characters are so richly developed and complex – the story is very driven by these remarkably deep characters. All of the different threads of their pasts and presents slowly intertwine in multifaceted layers to bring the family’s saga full circle. I especially enjoyed the cultural aspects of the book – learning about the different countries and a bit of their histories and traditions.