Set during Lebanon’s civil war, We Walked On immerses readers in the landscape of war, weaving political unrest into everyday life. With Rita, a fourteen-year-old girl, and Hisham, her thirty-year-old Arabic teacher, Chehade has created two richly drawn characters who counter violence with the redemptive power of books and human connection and find authentic hope in untenable circumstances. We Walked On is a timely novel about what it’s like to live in a war zone, how war corrupts our moral sense, and how to survive and endure in an unjust world.
Chehade’s deeply moving novel explores the devastating impact of the Lebanese Civil War through the eyes of two distinct yet interconnected characters, alternating between Hisham, a dedicated Arabic teacher, and Rita, his young student trying to make sense of the chaos surrounding her. In 1975 Lebanon, both Hisham and Rita use their love of books to escape from the violence and uncertainty of their reality, as their country slowly but inexorably marches toward destruction. But when their daily routines become more disrupted by protests, uprisings, and death, they can no longer ignore the tension simmering just under the surface while they “pretend that life was still normal.”The novel’s dual perspective provides a layered and insightful look into how war affects individuals across different generations and social backgrounds, and Chehade’s prose is both lyrical and unflinching, painting vivid scenes of beauty and redemption amid the destruction. Both Hisham and Rita seek solace and understanding through their writing, a reflection of Chehade’s own grappling with chaos through storytelling, and this meta-narrative approach enriches the novel, allowing readers to connect deeply with the characters’ inner struggles as they navigate loss, hope, and the unexplainable endurance of the human spirit.
Chehade’s depiction of the Lebanese Civil War is both intimate and expansive, offering readers a personal lens through which to view the lives upended by the conflict, and her attention to sensory details—and skill in evoking the characters’ lived experiences—make the novel immersive and strikingly real. The end result is a challenge to more simplistic narratives about war, as Chehade (author of Loom) provides a nuanced exploration of its complexities—and the often-overlooked personal stories behind the headlines. This is a compelling and thought-provoking work that, much as Hisham strives to do in his teaching, highlights the resilience of the human spirit while seeking to “make beauty out of the sordid world.”
Takeaway: Evocative rendering of a country fragmented by civil war.
Comparable Titles: Catherine Ryan Hyde’s Take Me with You, A. Naji Bakhti’s Between Beirut and the Moon.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
