A book by Catherine Taylor

This is a story of two adventurous young journalists who followed their hearts to pursue a life in Beirut, a city that is often mis-interpreted and mis-understood by many.

Catherine and her husband moved to Beirut during their first year of married life and stayed for four years. The city once described as Paris of the Middle East is vibrant and full of life, and is nothing like the stories others tells of hatred and violence. She described the vineyards of Bakaa Valley, stylish restaurants and cafes the lined the Beirut streets and a lifestyle that is both chaotic yet serene.

During the four years, she discovered through her friends a society made up of multicultural and multi-religious foundations with warm and hospital hearts. She also lived through major events such as 9/11 as well as falling pregnant. Through this book, she showed me a Beirut that I always knew existed.

It is always refreshing to read about a place that has constantly being portrayed negatively by the media. I like the Beirut Catherine described in this book, I liked the sincere and honest way she told her tale. In times when the world seem to be full of hate, when all we hear are sad and chaotic stories of violence and war between struggling powers, we need more stories like this, stories that remind us humanity still lives in the hearts of those who live there, and that this world is full of places whose people are just like you and me, and are just as sick of the whole thing as you are.

Once upon a Time in Beirut is available on Amazon here.