Super Short Summary

The Story of Zahra by Hanan al-Shaykh is set in Beirut during the onset of the Lebanese Civil War and follows Zahra as she grapples with family pressures, societal expectations, and the chaos of conflict. The novel is narrated mostly in the first person by Zahra, with some chapters by her uncle and husband, and explores themes of sexual repression, abandonment, displacement, and patriarchal violence. It includes instances of rape, abortion, civil war, self-harm, drug use, thoughts of suicide, medical abuse, and murder.