House of Stone

Anthony Shadid’s remains were scattered under the olive tree in the garden at his house in Jdeidit Marjeyoun, South Lebanon. He was not buried in the United States where he was born and raised, but in the home he had chosen as his own. This home, or bayt, as Shadid refers to it, is the main character in his third book “House of Stone”, and represents the very human concept of belonging. Returning to Lebanon on sabbatical from his post as a journalist covering the Middle East for the New York Times, Shadid was not at peace. In his words he was “stunned by war, and shockingly no longer young, married or with my daughter Layla.” Perhaps this emotional state is what led Shadid to decide to fix his ancestral home in Marjeyoun, as a distraction from his internal turmoil and to finally have a place he could call home.