During his long stay in France, he dreamed of Lebanese apples, mixed the scent of apples with the scent of coffee, and reveled in his childhood.
Karim did not understand the meaning of childhood smells until he was abroad. There, in the distant French city, Karim felt the agony of the disappearing smell. He told Bernadette about the smell of apples and coffee, but he couldn't describe it. How do we describe a scent to someone who has never smelled or tasted it? Karim discovers his inability to speak because he cannot translate his memory, and the tension of nostalgia that devours him in words. He then ends up discovering that making love is nothing but a translation of words, and that when words end, love ends.
The lover, like the translator, moves from the words of the tongue to the words of the body, as if he is translating the story and recomposing it. This is his story with Ghazala..

الياس خوري روائي لبناني، من مواليد بيروت 1948، رئيس تحرير مجلّة «الدراسات الفلسطينيَّة»، وأستاذ في جامعة نيويورك. تُرجمت رواياته إلى العديد من اللّغات.