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The Bullet Collection: A Novel
"Passionate, lyrical, and deeply humane, this tale of two sisters caught in a war without end moves effortlessly through space and time . . . an astonishing first novel." ―Andrea Barrett
Marianna watches her older sister Alaine collect the detritus of war from around Beirut―bullets, shrapnel, grenades, a gas mask. These objects, some taken from dead bodies, catalogue Alaine's retreat into a dangerous depression. As the family struggles to endure the daily violence of the Middle East conflict, it is Marianna who becomes her older sister's keeper, watching for any signal that might trigger one of Alaine's frequent, grim excavations. But once the family escapes to America, Alaine's newfound contentment is as alien to Marianna as her madness once was. As Marianna longs for her beloved, war-torn home, she struggles to understand that now she is the difficult sister.
In lyrical, dreamlike prose, The Bullet Collection by Patricia Sarrafian Ward mines both the stunning, exotic landscape of Beirut and the pure, defiant landscape of a child's heart, and shows how war leaves its indelible scars on both.
Marianna watches her older sister Alaine collect the detritus of war from around Beirut―bullets, shrapnel, grenades, a gas mask. These objects, some taken from dead bodies, catalogue Alaine's retreat into a dangerous depression. As the family struggles to endure the daily violence of the Middle East conflict, it is Marianna who becomes her older sister's keeper, watching for any signal that might trigger one of Alaine's frequent, grim excavations. But once the family escapes to America, Alaine's newfound contentment is as alien to Marianna as her madness once was. As Marianna longs for her beloved, war-torn home, she struggles to understand that now she is the difficult sister.
In lyrical, dreamlike prose, The Bullet Collection by Patricia Sarrafian Ward mines both the stunning, exotic landscape of Beirut and the pure, defiant landscape of a child's heart, and shows how war leaves its indelible scars on both.
- GenresPoetry
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 15, 2017
Stunning.
June 15, 2018
Magnificent.
May 7, 2025
A Montana local! Sensual poetry that is grounded in the natural world. Expressive and at times visceral writing with a few fantastic individuals poems.
October 21, 2007
One of my first teachers and still one of my favorite voices. "Flame," "The Jittering World," the frightening "Taboo" are so intensely felt and visceral. There's really not anyone like her.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews