Costa Brava, Lebanon

Set in the near future but reflecting on current crises in present-day Lebanon, this tense debut portrays three generations of the Badri family who retreated from the chaos of Beirut to a rural homestead. Eight years later, internal and external familial tensions rise just as the government responds to a garbage crisis by annexing property adjacent to theirs for a “green landfill.” Husband Walid and his wife Soraya bicker over the raising of their two children and how to address the trash being dumped just over their fence while aging matriarch Zeina’s health begins to decline. As detritus piles up both literally and metaphorically, the Badris are forced to decide whether to fight the government and stay put or leave the home they’ve created and rejoin the larger society in Beirut.