Helene in Town
(هيلانه في الضيعة)
The Lebanese Story : Book No. 4
Author : Hanna El-Khoury El-Feghaly
Study and Presentation : Dr. Salim Khalil Kahwaji
Year : 2011
ISBN: 978-9953-562-11-7
This was published as a serialized story in the Al-Dabbour newspaper in 1929. It is about the social life of a well-off family whose members live their own lives, and all that the maid and the gardener are supposed to do is not disclose whatever they see. In this house, the Khawaja is having an affair and the daughter resembles her mother in her coquettish style. Among the remarkable scenes is “the ballet evening”, and its vivid, humorous and cynical description and vitriol. The character of Helene turns at the end of the story into the opposite of what it was at the beginning, implying many connotations related to life in the city and the village and social traditions, and reflecting the contemporary era back then.