Block 82

About the Book

Nadia and Tony are looking for a light when war and invasion are leaving a shadow of desensitization over the people of Lebanon. In the end, they try to keep hope during the 1982 invasion by looking to God, but the paradox is, the war is about God. Ibrahim’s family is trying to escape their religious persecution, war, and despair. The characters are struggling against all odds to survive something they have no say. Jawaher Ibrahim needs to keep her family safe and survive the bombshells and the jetfighters attacks. Hashem tries to escape his country’s ailments through drinking. Marwan is trying to keep the family together in the middle of gruesome bombings. Laila is fighting quietly for whatever is left of her family. They are all caught in a cobweb of intriguing events. They want to keep their humanity as they watch their friends and family damaged from the drugs, rape, and killings that coexist with their battle to reach a resolution. In all this whirlpool, love is blooming. Would love triumph over war?

About the Author

Rima Haidar-Duncan was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Her father was a Literature teacher and a writer who came from Feudal family that had a title name Bay or Bek. They came originally from the Beqaa valley. The family had different origins in blood. Her mother was a housewife who instilled in her a sense of pride. Rima's family lost the financial comfort for many reasons. Her country witnessed a bloody civil war that led to an economic crisis that depreciated the price of the Beqaa's lands. She worked for the English Department in Assafir Newspaper in Beirut. In the beginning, she wanted to be a professional theater actress. She acted in a Children's play for a professional theater. She didn't pursue the career. The situation in Lebanon escalated, and her family suggested for her to leave to Cypress. Rima didn't stay in Cypress. She traveled to different places, and one of the stations was Boston because she received the Hariri scholarship to study at Boston University. After that, Rima went to London, England but didn't want to stay there and came back to Boston then went later to Kansas and San Francisco and resided in Kansas there with her family and two girls. She worked as a freelance researcher for a while for a professor at Kuwait University. She began her writing in the 90s. Currently, she teaches at Wichita University for Intensive English Program and Communication in Butler Community College.