The Lebanese Dishwasher

Amir Radi hates washing dishes. When he left Beirut, with a tightly grasped suitcase, he hadn't expected he'd end up at a Middle-Eastern restaurant with old cooks and dirty dishes. Amir knows his immigrant dream has somehow drowned in foamy dishwater. But one night, he meets Rami and begins to feel less isolated, more hopeful, and closer to overcoming a tragic time in his childhood, something he had tried to leave in Beirut. Set in Montreal and Lebanon, The Lebanese Dishwasher tells the story of one man's struggle with his past and self-acceptance while burdened with culture and obligation.

Beirut to Carnival City: Reading Rawi Hage is a pioneering collection of critical essays on the work of the Lebanese-Canadian writer, situating his fiction in contexts such as diasporic writing or trans-geographical literature, and reflecting the worldwide range of research into his literary output.

Winner of the 2020 International Book Award for Multicultural Fiction; Winner of the 2020 Ippy Gold Medal for Multicultural Fiction. It is 1970. The evergreens are thick with snow despite it being the month of April. In an Ottawa hospital, another daughter is born to the Azar family. The parents are from Kfarmichki, a village in Lebanon but their daughters were born in Canada. Four daughters, to be precise. No sons. Youssef is the domineering father. Samira is the quiescent mother. Rima, Katrina and Mona are the traditional daughters. Then there is Adele, the newest member. "You should've been born a boy," Samira whispers to Adele shortly after her entrance into the world. As she grows, Adele learns there are certain rules Lebanese girls must follow in order to be good daughters. First off, they must learn to cook, master housework, learn Arabic and follow the traditions of their culture. Above all, they must save themselves for marriage. But Adele dreams of being an artist. When she is accepted to the University of Toronto, this is her chance to have a life outside the confines of her strict upbringing. But can she defy her father? When Youssef surprises her with a family trip to her ancestral home, Adele is excited about the journey. In Lebanon, she meets Elias. He is handsome and intelligent and Adele develops feelings for him until Elias confides to her that her unexpected meeting with him was actually a well-devised plan that is both deceitful and shocking.Will this unravel the binding threads of this close-knit Lebanese family? Crisscrossing between Ottawa, Toronto and Lebanon, The Allspice Bath is a bold story about the cultural gap and the immigrant experience.

In Niagara of the 1960s, a mysterious proxy bride arrives from Italy to marry a candy shop owner with crime connections, only to fall in love with her proxy husband's teenaged son. Part fairy tale, part gritty realism, The Proxy Bride explores the underbelly of a southern Ontario community steeped in gambling, smuggling and pornography. Terri Favro's The Proxy Bride is a brilliantly constructed tale of innocence versus wickedness.

A diplomat is captured by supposed insurgents and is waiting in a room for his execution. Texas is a provocative story of death against the backdrop of ugly and uncompromising politics. It is also a meditation on empire, imperialism and American hegemony. The writing borrows heavily from philosophy and poetry. A book full of unique visions, written by a writer who has an ear for cadence.

Dunya a courageous seventeen-year-old Shia Muslim teen girl is traveling with her devoted family to Qatar from London when the plane makes an emergency landing in Beirut, Lebanon. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (I. S. I. L.) breaks into the airport in a spectacular fashion and kills the passengers after a collapse of Lebanon. Dunya manages to escape with the help of a delightful teen girl. Her friend finds out that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (I. S. I. L.) is holding some hostages from the airport in Damascus, Syria. Now Dunya and her new friends must go to Damascus to find out if her brother Hakeem is a hostage in Syria. Dunya meets a lonely fighter who wants to leave the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (I. S. I. L.) after a disappointing few loathsome years. He offers to help Dunya on her quest. Dunya and her friends debate whether trusting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (I. S. I. L.) member is a good idea. Dunya will take a few risks in search of her brother Hakeem. A new problem leads to a change in her plans. (Word Count 69, 854)

Amir Radi hates washing dishes. When he left Beirut, with a tightly grasped suitcase, he hadn't expected he'd end up at a Middle-Eastern restaurant with old cooks and dirty dishes. Amir knows his immigrant dream has somehow drowned in foamy dishwater. But one night, he meets Rami and begins to feel less isolated, more hopeful, and closer to overcoming a tragic time in his childhood, something he had tried to leave in Beirut. Set in Montreal and Lebanon, The Lebanese Dishwasher tells the story of one man's struggle with his past and self-acceptance while burdened with culture and obligation. The author presents an all-male version of Romeo and Juliet in which the Arab lovers find themselves threatened by society and worst of all by family prejudice and homophobia that culminates in a catastrophic climactic scene. The Lebanese Dishwasher is poetically charged, dramatically presented with engaging dialogue and employs a plot having almost fairy tale symmetry. Saikaley reveals herself as a writer with much to offer the reader, both in her knowledge of the rich culture of the Middle East and in the insight she brings to the gay character of Amir.

Abla Amad believes that the true joy of cooking comes from the partaking of good food with friends and family. It was with the simple aim of bringing food and people together that Abla opened her restaurant, Abla's, in Melbourne over twenty years ago. Diners return time and time again to experience her traditional homemade Lebanese dishes. Now Abla shares her recipes in this inspiring book, which features the real food of Lebanon - culinary treasures that are centuries old, preserved and adapted for contemporary cooks. Here is the wide variety of small dishes that comprise a mezzatable, including kibbee, stuffed vine leaves, tabbouleh, felafel and baba ghannooj with its essential smoky flavour. Abla welcomes you to her table to taste, to eat, to enjoy.