These two novels are among the most absorbing and satisfying I’ve read in the past few years. The Arsonists’ City (Harper, 2021) concerns the Nasrs, an Arab-American family based in the Southern California desert community of Blythe. The father, Idris, is a heart surgeon originally from Beirut, while the mother, Mazna, was a stage actress in Damascus before immigrating. Their three adult children are close-knit despite having relocated to Brooklyn, Austin, and Beirut. The plot is set in motion when Idris’s father dies, leaving their family home in Beirut empty. Idris surprises everyone when he announces that he plans to sell it; the house and Beirut, for better or worse, remain the family’s touchstone.