On August 4, 2020, sixteen-year-old Ariana was spending the day with her friend and her family in her Beirut apartment. It was a normal day for a normal teenager. But, at 6.10pm a cataclysmic blast ripped through the nearby port of Beirut; destroying her apartment, and killing her beloved mother, Delia. In a second, Ariana’s safe world was turned upside down.

Delia is the heart rending and visceral story of the chaotic aftermath of the blast and how Ariana gradually rebuilds her life. She recounts how she survives the explosion, escapes her devastated apartment, and reunites with her family in a shattered Beirut.

Over the following months, grief stricken Ariana slowly adjusts to her new life without her mother’s guiding hand. She returns to her apartment and to school, she faces her mother’s memorial service, and milestone birthdays. She finds solace and healing through writing about her experiences, in her honest and direct style.

This is a universal tale of survival and stoicism, seen through the eyes of a young girl, mature beyond her years, with the courage to lay bare her soul and heart.

14 cm x 21 cm, 128 pages.
Published: April 2022