Aarti Shahani

Both of your parents are Alawite, a minority in Syria, a bit more than 10% of the population, and the same religion as the ruler at the time, Hafez al-Assad.

And your mom's mom does not approve of your parents' marriage, even though they're both Alawite.

Tell us about how your parents met and why grandma didn't like it.

And did your mom ever tell you about why she fell for your dad?

I thought we were doing that, but tell me what you mean.

When you were born, your dad told your mom, I want to name this baby after my mistress.

Tell me, Lubna, when you were a small child...

Your first home is your grandmother's home in Damascus, your mom and your older sister, Alia, and you live with grandma.

But grandma, she wasn't spoiling you, you know, kind of as we expect grandmas to do.

So not living with him, but living amongst his family.

So you move from Damascus to Jebel basically because you cannot stay in your grandmother's home and your mom's at her wit's end.

Jubla is a coastal town.

And it's, in some ways, it sounds really beautiful.

You use one of my favorite words throughout your memoir, Corniche.

And I have to say, I love the word Corniche because my father, he was actually a child refugee who landed in Beirut long ago.

And he would tell me about his walks along the Corniche.

So when you say it, I think of dad.

It's the scene on the beach, right?

It's where people are courting each other, looking fabulous.

And you had money there as well, is that right?