Chapters 13-14: Homesick, A Bush Called Rozana Summary and Analysis

Shadid spends time with Assaad Maatouk, a Lebanese-American chef who returned from the U.S. to be with his siblings who still live there. He left a restaurant in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, to live in his grandmother's refurbished stone house, trusting a nephew to do the reconstruction before he arrived. But upon returning to Lebanon, Assaad discovers his nephew did a cheap job and he feels his family betrayed him. Rumor has it that he came to find a wife, and though he won't admit it, he does claim to have been on a series of dates with women who don't get him. Shadid and Assaad feed each other's self-pity as they fish one day. In addition, Shadid finds himself drawn to Hikmat's upstairs neighbor Fahima. Like Shadid, she is...