Douaihy draws the portrait of society, in his new novel “American neighborhood “, where each sentence imprints on the reader’s mind an evocative primeval image.

Al hayat, January 2014
It is as if the reader is walking in the city’s markets, inhaling the smell of raw fish mixed with that of soap, of the waste piled on the dirty river banks, and the scent of tobacco: «It is called American Neighborhood in reference to the abandoned Evangelical School… it overlooks the city’s river, and to access their homes, its inhabitants have no other choice but to climb long series of stairs»
Jabbour Douaihy was able to catch the precise moment of transition which we today live through …

By Rami Tawil, for Al Akhbar
January 2014

With his masterly narrative skills, the author of « June Rain » tell the story of Tripoli with great art, through a travel in time taking the reader back to the early twentieth century. Douaihy’s characters are created in the city’s spirit and its words, thereby creating the space where the story unfolds. (…)
This is the art of details, par excellence. Details that Douaihy perfectly possesses, and with which he weaves a precise panoramic picture of the city of Tripoli.
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In “American neighborhood’, Douaihy stays close to a narrative he’s experienced before, and successfully captures the societal transformations that affect his country.

While the action seems to be torn out of today’s newspapers, it is actually set in the late 1970s and early 1980s when a rebellion against the current leader’s father was brutally suppressed. In chilling terms, the narrator describes her embrace of fanaticism and her rejection of the middle ground.

Add this one to the growing list of thought-provoking novels about Muslim women caught in the crossfire of politics and personal life.