A Beirut Heart:One Woman's War is the unforgettable story of an American woman who lived amidst the Lebanese civil war for eight years and through it all attempted to sustain a normal life with her Lebanese husband and two small children.

Sultan's memoir offers a unique illustration of the unsung heroes of war--the women who assume the awesome task of keeping the family united during war time. 

The book tells the story of how Sultan moved with her family in 1969 to Lebanon. For six years they led an ideal life experiencing the rich culture, exotic food and breathtaking landscape of a city located along the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

After the war begain in 1975, their lives changed forever. Sultan recounts how she held the family together by comforting her children after bomb blasts and consoling her physician husband who spent his days treating wounded civilians. To keep sane, she used cooking as her tranquilizer.

The unique narrative places us uncomfortably inside something we seldom consider--the domestic element of civil war--and leaves a permanent impression of the destroyed city and its resilient people.

"A tapestry of vivid colors and shifting landscapes. A Beirut Heart puts a common face on the trauma of war--that of a family. This memoir offers a view drawn from a camera obscura that moves behind the screen of invading armies, detentes and broken treaties. Sultan writes a compelling story of survival that settles for no less than the promise that her family will remain together and safe at all costs. This is a must-read for everyone with any interest in what happens to a family under siege."

Colleen McElroy, Professor of English, University of Washington, Seattle; author of fourteen books including Over the Lips of the World: Among Storytellers of Madagascar and Queen of the Ebony Isles, which received the American Book Award.

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"Cathy Sultan has written a poignant account of her life in a country that few of us can relate to and yet she does it in a way that enables all of us to understand the sacrifices that women around the world face every day. She has successfully and dramatically exposed the domestic side of war and in doing so provided a window into the effects that this sort of conflict has on our world today." Ian Graham Leask, Managing Editor of Scarletta Press.

"In war-time journalists must speak from a middle distance. Women have to attempt the impossible: create a haven in the midst of surrounding chaos. Now we have Cathy Sultan narrating the disintegration of the mosaic which was Lebanon with a lover's distress, a spouses's care and a mother's abiding concern.

Never partisan, ever present, always insightful; her narrative enfleshes our disjointed "news" of the Middle East."

David Burrell, C.S.C., Hesburgh Professor in Philosophy and Theology, University of Notre Dame Director, Tantur Ecumenical Institute, Jerusalem.

"As the media once again echoes reports of Beirut violence, this memoir offers well-researched insights into ongoing Middle East conflicts and the United States policy errors that compound them." Sarah Harder, President, National Peace Foundation.

In 2002 Cathy Sultan traveled to Jerusalem and the West Bank in an attempt to understand the human aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Ramallah she met Palestinian refugees in the al-Amari refugee camp. She interviewed teenagers, teachers, a businessman and the founder of the International Solidarity Movement. She spoke with Israeli soldiers at the Wailing Wall and spent an evening discussing politics with an Israeli Army Major. "Israeli and Palestinian Voices: A Dialogue with Both Sides" originally published in December 2003 will be re-issued by Scarletta Press
of Minneapolis in erly 2006.

According to Sarah Harder, "these two books argue persuasively that without active citizen demands for peace, the hypnotic vortex of conflict can swirl on without end."

Since 1983 Cathy Sultan and her husband have lived in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She currently sits on the Executive Board of the National Peace Foundation where she directs Middle East educational projects. Sultan is currently writing another book about the Middle East.