Sabra Zoo

It is the summer of 1982 and Beirut is under siege. Eighteen-year-old Ivan's parents have just been evacuated from the city with other cadres of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Ivan stays on, interpreting for international medical volunteers in Sabra refugee camp by day, getting stoned with them at night, and working undercover for the PLO. Hoping to get closer to Eli, a Norwegian physiotherapist, he helps her treat the belligerent Youssef, a camp orphan disabled by a cluster bomb. But events take a nasty turn when the president-elect is assassinated. The Israeli army enters Beirut and surrounds the camp, with Eli and Youssef trapped inside. Can Ivan, unable to enter the camp, salvage anything from the chaos?


Genre: Literary Fiction

"Beautifully told, ambitious and important, this is a debut with something to say." - Ronan Bennett