Beirut Apartment

Raja and Zalfa’s Beirut apartment is the central setting of The True True Story of Raja the Gullible. This cramped space, with its shared bedroom, balcony, and stubbornly flickering lights, is where Raja dyes his mother’s hair, feeds the cats, smokes his bedtime joints, and fields family crises by phone. The apartment frames almost every stage of the present-day narrative: the financial collapse, the COVID lockdown, the port explosion’s aftermath, the arrival of Aunt Yasmine and Nahed, and finally Zalfa’s death and the mourning gatherings. It is both sanctuary and trap, embodying the emotional claustrophobia of Raja’s life with his mother and the fierce comfort he draws from her presence and from their domestic rituals.

Beirut Streets and Public Spaces

The streets, protest squares, and small neighborhood shops of Beirut form the novel’s broader social setting. These are the spaces where...