Souhaib Ayoub's 'Le loup de la famille' Chronicles War Through a Family Saga

Lebanese author Souhaib Ayoub's novel 'Le loup de la famille' (published by Actes Sud) tells the story of a family across three generations, centered on a building in a poor neighborhood of Tripoli, Lebanon's second city. The deliberately undated narrative reflects multiple overlapping conflicts: local sectarian violence between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli, the Lebanese Civil War, and personal family wars. The narrator, Hassan, a mute teenager, recounts the bombing of the family apartment as a legend, despite not being born yet. The building's inhabitants include Shamzé, a Bedouin grandmother who has endured many tragedies, and Zied, the father who is the lover of DolceVita, a transgender woman. Ayoub describes the current war as unbearable, noting daily attacks by Israel. Even in exile in Paris, he carries the pain of war and feels guilt for living away from his country. He states, 'In Lebanon, we never live in true peace, there are only moments of hope for peace. This is a people who live in resistance all the time! Every Lebanese experiences war anywhere, as an act of flight.' Ayoub, born in 1989 in Tripoli, is also a painter and comedian, and founded the project 'Ta'a naktob' ('Let's write together') to promote creative writing among youth. He previously authored 'Rajul min sâtân' ('A Man of Satin', 2019). 'Le loup de la famille' is his first work translated into French.