A Beirut Heart

As a young woman Cathy Sultan dreamed of living in a foreign land. She realized that dream in 1969 when she moved with her Lebanese husband and two infants 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.