"In 'Wild Mulberries' and 'B as in Beirut', Iman Humaydan Younes narrates the dialectic between Lebanon's capital city and its villages through the eyes of five female characters. This narrative is refracted through a history of war, the violence of industrialization and rapid economic change, and the infinitesimal injuries that only family members and spouses can inflict on one another. While 'B as in Beirut' unfolds during the Lebanese civil war of 1975- 1990, the narrator of 'Wild Mulberries' inhabits the era between two altogether different wars, World War I and World War II. "Both novels succeed in portraying the rawness of pain, mourning, and perhaps most powerfully, resignation. ...Younes'"novels, particularly 'B as in Beirut', stand as a testament to her ability to describe in excruciating detail the terror of love and loss. While the civil war is very much in the foreground of this novel, Younes is never seduced into explaining or documenting the war as a subject in and of itself. "This self-reflexivity makes Younes an intriguing author. As novels that examine the vulnerability of human life without succumbing to the temptation to sermonize in grandiose terms about the greater meaning of war, death, and loss, 'Wild Mulberries' and 'B as in Beirut' are not to be missed."

"With the verge of adulthood comes the pressure of being responsible for oneself and not shaming one's family. Sarah must deal with all of this in "Wild Mulberries"... She must confront difficult choices in this seminal picture of life in small town Lebanon. Highly recommended..."

"...offers a vivid snapshot of life from another era in Lebanon's mountain villages overlooking the Mediterranean Sea....Particularly striking is the strong focus on women's experiences within Lebanese society through multiple generations. It is both an examination of shifting traditional and complicated lines of gender in Lebanese society and an insightful, often beautiful portrayal of women's social bonds during another era."

"Originally composed in Arabic, Wild Mulberries is the story of Sarah, the adolescent daughter of a Lebanese sheikh in the 1930s. Although the area has seen financial hardship because of a sharp decline in the price of silk, Sarah's father keeps a tight grip on the household and insists on raising silk worms. His rigid dedication to the traditional method of silk production angers members of the family. As a result, Sarah flees Lebanon and the pressures of her family's conservatism in search of a mother she's never known. Younes provides a textured, personal window into a country on the brink of change, and a village that is holding on to its traditions despite Western influence and economic hardships." -