It figures that Collette al-Khouri was one of the only female writers my sexist professor from University of Damascus thought was worth anything. Plot summary: protagonist toddles around Beirut, patronizing exclusive cafes with her oh-so-charming friends, who are all intellectuals, journalists, and writers. Will she fall in love with the aloof intellectual who doesn't believe in romance? Will he sweep her off her feet? It's called SUSPENSE. Also, there is much discussion of the climate of fear in Damascus, the tyranny of the Syrian regime, its abandonment of its own founding ideals, its surveillance of exiled Syrians in Beirut, etc. We are then meant to believe that all of this is swept away with the rise of Hafez al-Assad!! No more repression, everything is glorious now. No wonder she was appointed Culture Minister under the Assad government.