Gate of the Sun — Elias Khoury

In a makeshift hospital in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Beirut, Yunes, an aging Palestinian freedom fighter, lies in a coma. Keeping vigil at the old mans bedside is his spiritual son, Khalil, who nurses Yunes, refusing to admit that his hero may never regain consciousness. Like a modern-day Scheherazade, Khalil relates the story of Palestinian exile, while also recalling Yuness own extraordinary life, and his love for his wife, whom he meets secretly over the years at Bab al-Shams, the Gate of the Sun.