What do you think?
Rate this book
A Beirut Heart: One Woman's War
As a young woman Cathy Sultan dreamed of living in a foreign land. She realized that dream in 1969 when she move with her Lebanese husband and two infant children from the United States to Beirut- a city known for its welcoming residents, breathtaking landscape and cosmopolitan culture. Sultan quickly grew to adore Beirut despite its seedy side, and came to think of it as her dysfunctional lover. Even after the onset of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975 her feelings were slow to change. Using cooking as a tranquilizer, Sultan worked tirelessly to provide a home environment that was comforting to her family and inviting to friends. Even as bullets pierced her own kitchen and bombs destroyed the ancient city and the lives of loved ones, she and her family refused to be driven from their home and their humanity. A Beirut One Woman's War is the riveting story of how a wife and mother struggled to maintain order and normality amid the unspeakable cruelty of civil war.
- GenresMemoirNonfiction
264 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2005
7 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Cathy Sultan
16 books29 followersCathy Sultan is an award winning author of three nonfiction books: Beirut Heart - One Woman's War; Israeli & Palestinian Voices: A Dialogue with Both Sides; and Tragedy in South Lebanon - The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006. Her first work of fiction, The Syrian, was published in January 2015, with a sequel, Damascus Street, following in early 2018.
Sultan is also an activist who sits on the Board of the Interfaith Peace Builders, an NGO based in Washington, D.C.. She has led several delegations to Israel-Palestine, and accompanied a delegation to Gaza in November 2012.
In Cathy's own words:
I grew up in Washington D.C.. Quite rebellious as a young woman, I yearned to escape from my native city and experience great adventures. My dreams came true when I fell in love with a handsome young Lebanese physician, eloped against my parents' wishes after a short courtship, had two children and in 1969 moved to Beirut, Lebanon, a city called the "Switzerland of the Middle East" and famous for its hospitality, its lovely Mediterranean climate and its exotic blend of Arab and Western cultures.
For six years I led the life of my dreams. My home was a rooftop apartment with a terrace full of flowers and a breathtaking view of the city. I was accepted and loved as a Lebanese. My husband had a successful medical practice and my children were growing up speaking English, French and Arabic.
But in April 1975, my life was abruptly turned upside down. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, the Christian Phalange militia attacked a bus full of Palestinians in a neighborhood not far from mine in East Beirut. This singular incident set off an infamous civil war that eventually engulfed the whole city. My tranquil tree-lined street, a block off Damascus Road and two blocks from the National Museum, became a deadly territorial divide: the infamous Green Line, separating East from West Beirut. Despite the constant danger, my feelings for my lover-city were slow to change. Instead of fleeing, my love affair with Beirut clouded my otherwise clear judgement and we stayed through the first eight years of Lebanon's bloody civil war.
I spent my days caring for my family, racing under the bombs to rescue my children from school and comforting my physician husband who spent his days treating wounded civilians. I kept my sanity during the war in large part because I loved to cook. I entertained family and friends constantly, trying as much as possible to incorporate some normalcy into our lives. Little by little I acquired the coping skills necessary to resist and survive in the absurd dysfunction of war. Eventually, though, war took a huge toll on my family and in 1983 we abandoned our beloved Beirut and returned to the States.
It took a number of years for all of us to regain our sanity. And it wasn't until when my son, by then a junior at Harvard, asked me to record our adventures in Beirut that I began to think about writing my story. What began as a project for my children quickly became my way to mourn the loss of my beloved Beirut. Another reason had to do with the attitude of people I met when my husband and I settled down in the mid-West. They seemingly could not relate to my war stories and quickly became disinterested. This painful experience was the impetus that stimulated me to write, to pour my heart out, to clease my soul of the traumas of war. A Beirut Heart: One Woman's War is a memoir of my fourteen years in Beirut.
In March 2002, two years into the 2nd Intifada, I traveled to Israel-Palestine to better understand the conflict. My book "Israeli and Palestinian Voices: A Dialogue with Both Sides" is part adventure, part history, part travelogue, all bound together with a startling collection of interviews which I conducted first-hand in a variety of sometimes not very safe places.This book is a continuation of the my quest to bring peace to a region tragically gripped by obduracy and fanaticism, a region of the world I care dee
Sultan is also an activist who sits on the Board of the Interfaith Peace Builders, an NGO based in Washington, D.C.. She has led several delegations to Israel-Palestine, and accompanied a delegation to Gaza in November 2012.
In Cathy's own words:
I grew up in Washington D.C.. Quite rebellious as a young woman, I yearned to escape from my native city and experience great adventures. My dreams came true when I fell in love with a handsome young Lebanese physician, eloped against my parents' wishes after a short courtship, had two children and in 1969 moved to Beirut, Lebanon, a city called the "Switzerland of the Middle East" and famous for its hospitality, its lovely Mediterranean climate and its exotic blend of Arab and Western cultures.
For six years I led the life of my dreams. My home was a rooftop apartment with a terrace full of flowers and a breathtaking view of the city. I was accepted and loved as a Lebanese. My husband had a successful medical practice and my children were growing up speaking English, French and Arabic.
But in April 1975, my life was abruptly turned upside down. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, the Christian Phalange militia attacked a bus full of Palestinians in a neighborhood not far from mine in East Beirut. This singular incident set off an infamous civil war that eventually engulfed the whole city. My tranquil tree-lined street, a block off Damascus Road and two blocks from the National Museum, became a deadly territorial divide: the infamous Green Line, separating East from West Beirut. Despite the constant danger, my feelings for my lover-city were slow to change. Instead of fleeing, my love affair with Beirut clouded my otherwise clear judgement and we stayed through the first eight years of Lebanon's bloody civil war.
I spent my days caring for my family, racing under the bombs to rescue my children from school and comforting my physician husband who spent his days treating wounded civilians. I kept my sanity during the war in large part because I loved to cook. I entertained family and friends constantly, trying as much as possible to incorporate some normalcy into our lives. Little by little I acquired the coping skills necessary to resist and survive in the absurd dysfunction of war. Eventually, though, war took a huge toll on my family and in 1983 we abandoned our beloved Beirut and returned to the States.
It took a number of years for all of us to regain our sanity. And it wasn't until when my son, by then a junior at Harvard, asked me to record our adventures in Beirut that I began to think about writing my story. What began as a project for my children quickly became my way to mourn the loss of my beloved Beirut. Another reason had to do with the attitude of people I met when my husband and I settled down in the mid-West. They seemingly could not relate to my war stories and quickly became disinterested. This painful experience was the impetus that stimulated me to write, to pour my heart out, to clease my soul of the traumas of war. A Beirut Heart: One Woman's War is a memoir of my fourteen years in Beirut.
In March 2002, two years into the 2nd Intifada, I traveled to Israel-Palestine to better understand the conflict. My book "Israeli and Palestinian Voices: A Dialogue with Both Sides" is part adventure, part history, part travelogue, all bound together with a startling collection of interviews which I conducted first-hand in a variety of sometimes not very safe places.This book is a continuation of the my quest to bring peace to a region tragically gripped by obduracy and fanaticism, a region of the world I care dee
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 25, 2010
This book was really interesting to me because the american authors time in Beirut was exactly the same as Walids parents-even the marriage year was the same. It was interesting for me to read the authors experiences because so many of them were so similar to Walids families. I also respected the author for commenting on her own flaws which kept her living in Beirut instead of fleeing to the (sniper free) country side. It was interesting to have a look into an american womans life living in a once idealic country that deteriorated to a war torn mess and her exerpiences along the way.
May 23, 2011
As most Lebanese, the writer was dominated by the secterial religious influence during the Lebanese civil war. Thus, the reader felt that her opinions were biased and influenced by her husband and his family who inflicted their opinions on her.
Her love for Beirut and its people encouraged her to acquire needed skills to cope with this absurd cruel war, and that is why she couldn't just pack and leave almost till the end.
Her love for Beirut and its people encouraged her to acquire needed skills to cope with this absurd cruel war, and that is why she couldn't just pack and leave almost till the end.
July 24, 2018
It has been a long time since I studied the history of the Middle East, so I can't comment on the historical accuracy of A Beirut Heart. Yet I'm immensely grateful to Cathy Sultan for enriching my understanding of the city I visited and loved in 2002. Few people in our current society understand the beauty and charm of Beirut, and my memory was beginning to grow dim because of so few opportunities to revisit those experiences. Thank you.
November 4, 2007
An interesting firsthand account of the Lebanese civil war by an American integrated into Lebanese culture through her husband and his family. Gives excellent insight into day to day life in wartime Beirut.
January 21, 2013
An interesting memoir, really nice writing and beautiful descriptions, not an excellent telling of the actual events of the civil war but definitely conveyed the horror of living in the midst of it. I didn't really like how she kept calling the city of Beirut her lover.
Awesome cover.
Awesome cover.
July 29, 2013
Very interesting to read as depicts the Lebanese unrest from a mothers viewpoint.
January 26, 2014
Met Cathy Sultan, a sweet lady.
March 2, 2021
A heartbreaking account of one woman's ascension into prosperity and happiness, before the harsh realities of war crumble down everything around her, in a manner which hits close to home.
May 1, 2017
Cathy Sultan's memoir gives a personal look at what it's like to fall in love with a country and then watch it torn apart by war. Her experiences as a mother reflect the difficulty of needing to be strong while slowly falling apart on the inside. Wonderful book! I highly recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews