In her third novel Tabiq 99 (The Ninety-ninth floor) Jana Fawaz Elhassan describes the complex relationship that the Palestinian Majd and the Lebanese Hilda have with New York as the backdrop in 2000. Majd has been scarred by the Sabra and Shatila massacre of 1982 and he is reminded of this every day: his relationship with Hilda makes it impossible to forget. Hilda comes from a well-to-do Christian family, which makes her experience of the past very different from Majd’s. Elhassan uses different perspectives to explore how the people in this story relate to eachother and their shared history.

The writer shows how the scars of war remain tangible, beyond generations and borders. Especially as an outsider it can be difficult to imagine how war can have effect on personal and intimate relationships. With this multivoiced narrative Elhassan immerses the reader in the human experience of war, love and trauma.

Tabiq 99 was published in 2014 by Difaf Publishing (Beirut, Lebanon).