Ain Srar—an imagined mountain village in Lebanon. It is here that Osama takes refuge, moving into her maternal uncle’s home to escape the raging war in Beirut, where her parents have remained behind. High atop the Hill of the Cypresses—within the former residence of the late Saroufim—dwells his eccentric widow, the guardian of the Metawali cemetery. What secrets lie hidden within her home? And what will Osama discover about the graveyard facing it? How will she tame her anxiety over her parents’ fate—by reading works of literature? By tutoring two displaced children? Or through adventures spent deciphering the mysteries of buried caches? The novel casts a spotlight on the wartime looting of antiquities, alluding to an event whose true nature remained shrouded in mystery during the "Hundred Days' War" of 1978—a period when the press buzzed with rumors that artifacts from the National Museum of Beirut had been transferred to the Nicosia Museum in Cyprus under an international treaty intended for their protection. Were the artifacts truly transferred, or were they stolen? This Lebanese novel chronicles the daily life of the "War of Liberation" in 1989, reviving the ethos of cultural heritage preservation through a captivating narrative centered on a group of youths attempting to decipher symbols carved into tombstones—clues that promise to lead them to buried caches and hidden treasures. "In this novel, Mazen Haidar—through his refined literary style—infuses even the most simple and mundane details of life with beauty and allure, offering the reader a poignant and profound vision of this world." — Sharif Majdalani, Lebanese Author