"A Beirut Heart" is the unforgettable story of an American woman who lived amidst the Lebanese Civil War for eight years and through it all attempted to sustain a life with her Lebanese husband and two small children. It is a memoir that offers a unique illustration of the unsung heroes of war--the women who assume the awesome task of keeping the family united during wartime.
The book tells the story of how Cathy Sultan moved with her family to Lebanon in 1969. For six years they led an ideal life experiencing the rich culture, exotic food and breathtaking landscape of the city located along the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
After the war began in 1975, their lives changed forever. Sultan recounts how she held the family together by comforting her children after bomb blasts and consoling her physician husband who spent his days treating wounded civilians. To keep sane, she used cooking as her tranquilizer.
The unique narrative places us uncomfortably inside something we seldom consider--the domestic element of civil war--and leaves on the reader a permanent impression of the destroyed city and its resilient people. 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 Heart: 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.
