June Rain

One of Lebanon's leading writers recreates a village forever transformed by the massacre of one Christian community by another, & its impact on a mother & her long-estranged son.On June 16, 1957, a shoot-out in a village church in northern Lebanon leaves two dozen people dead. In the aftermath of the massacre, the town is divided in two: the Al-Ramis in the north & their rivals, the Al-Semaanis, in the south. But lives once so closely intertwined cannot easily be divided. Neighbors turn into enemies, & husbands & wives are forced to choose between loyalty to each other & loyalty to their clan.Drawing on an actual killing that took place in his home town, Douaihy reconstructs that June day from the viewpoints of people who witnessed the killings or whose lives were forever altered by them. A young girl overhears her father lending his gun to his cousins but refusing to accompany them to the church. A school boy walks past the dead bodies, laid out in the town square on beds brought out from the houses. A baker, whose shop is trapped on the wrong side of the line, hopes the women who buy his bread will protect him.At the center of Douaihy’s masterful novel is Eliyya, who, twenty years after immigrating to the US, returns to the village to learn about the father who was shot through the heart in the massacre: the father he never knew. But can the village, alive with the ghosts of his childhood, really provide Eliyya answers to questions he can’t even articulate?With an incredible eye for detail, Douaihy describes that fateful Sunday when rain poured from the sky & the traditions & affections of village life were consumed by violence & revenge.°°°Jabbour Douaihy (1949-2021) was born in Zgharta, northern Lebanon. He has published 8 works of fiction, including novels, short stories & children’s books. His novels The American Quarter & Printed in Beirut are published in English by Interlink Books. On 16 June 1957, a shoot-out in a village church in northern Lebanon leaves two dozen people dead. In the aftermath of the massacre, the town is rent in two: the Al-Ramis in the north and their rivals the Al-Samaeenis in the south. But lives once so closely intertwined cannot easily be divided. Neighbours turn into enemies and husbands and wives are forced to choose between loyalty to each other and loyalty to their clan. Drawing on an actual killing that took place in his home town, Douaihy reconstructs that June day from the viewpoints of people who witnessed the killing or whose lives were forever altered by it. A young girl overhears her father lending his gun to his cousins, but refusing to accompany them to the church. A school boy walks past the dead bodies, laid out in the town square on beds brought out from the houses. A baker whose shop is trapped on the wrong side of the line hopes the women who buy his bread will protect him. At the center of the portrait is... The Business on a Shoestring series helps small business owners grow their business imaginatively, effectively and without spending a fortune. Aimed at entrepreneurs with plenty of vision and commitment but not a lot of cash, each book is packed with ideas that really work, real-life examples, step-by-step advice and sources of further information. Boosting your company's sales is essential if you're going to make a success of your business. This edition Looking at your current sales and working out where you want to go next, Making sure you're meeting a need, Looking at your prices (and how you present them), Talking to and nurturing your new and existing customers, Improving your post-sales service and Working to guarantee repeat sales.