A Chance for One Last Love

Hassan Daoud

In the first Arab novel about the Coronavirus pandemic, relationships begin and end just like the pandemic itself. From his Beirut balcony, Ezzat spots a single light on a single balcony in the building opposite. From that moment, the moment of lockdown, a relationship begins across the empty space between the two buildings, through the air and with gestures. Events unfold after the owner of the shadow steps onto the balcony, confronting the peeper, sharing time, confusion, and desire with him. Meanwhile, a friendship develops between Ezzat and Tamer, an old acquaintance, a cautious friendship based on exchanging daily accounts of fleeting encounters, which soon evolve into more dangerous forms. The story doesn't end in a tie, but with losers. A Lebanese novelist, born in Beirut in 1950. He earned a Certificate of Competence in Arabic Literature from the Faculty of Education, Lebanese University. He worked in literary journalism for "Al-Safir" newspaper, where he managed the editing of its weekly supplement, and "Al-Hayat" (1988-1999), as well as "Al-Mustaqbal" where he headed the editing of its cultural supplement "Nawafed" (1999-2012). He has published short story collections and novels, including "Matilde's Building" (1983), "Penguin's Song" (1998), which won the Lebanese Cultural Forum Award in France, "One Hundred Eighty Sunsets," which received the Italian Mediterranean Award (2009), and "No Way to Heaven," which won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Arabic Literature (2015). He also published "Women and Fruits" (2020) by Nofal House, and his novels have been translated into several languages. "He knows when to leave hidden 'stitches' that enhance the brilliance and completeness of the content," Fagr Yaacoub, Al-Nahar Al-Arabi website.