'In turn lyrical, sensuous, comic and ironic ... rare and fascinating ... valuable ammunition against the impoverished imagination of political discourse ... it is the quality of subtle, evocative writing here that makes [Hikayat] remarkable.' Independent

'Insight into another culture is a strong lure for the fiction reader. But what we experience in these twenty-six stories by Lebanese women is a sense of recognition ... One has to admire the courage of these women who are breaking taboos by writing about love, sex and marriage.' TLS

'Many layered, haunting, sensuously rich and often threatening to the status quo ... Characters grope for a way of life, improvising, struggling to mourn or to love in relationships which have too often been blown apart. The fragments are tragic, dazzling, disturbing, and even comic ... such moments show more than a thousand news broadcasts.' The Times

'As the authors cope with endlessly shifting circumstances amid ceaseless political instability, so their characters feel their families fragment, see their childhood innocence shattered by religious division, yearn after lost sweethearts, homelands and futures. There is also a streak of rebellion: novice nuns discover lipstick; romances blossom in the most infertile circumstances; the persecuted take flight.' Observer

'Some truly insightful, engaging work ... these stories make a fresh, alienating and enlightening read, with poignant references to the war that puts a face to this country.' New Statesman

'Hikayat fuses established voices such as Layla Baalbaki's with the youthful, ripening prose of Hala Alyan, Lona Mounzer and others ... strong, provoking, endlessly encouraging cultural exchange and shared perceptions of other worlds ... a vivid and profound exploration of femininity, identity and power, ferocious and deeply engaging.' Scotland on Sunday

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