8 year old Ruba is growing up in 1980s Lebanon, in a village outside of Beirut, aware but innocent of the war around her. It‘s a very evocative book - the atmosphere of the place was very well done. But maybe it spreads itself a little thin - I‘m not sure I ever got to know any of the characters, & there are a world of issues in here. I was also thrown by the child narrator, never too sure if this was meant as a children‘s book (it‘s not).