No Lipstick in Lebanon

by Paul Timblick

  ‘Meron! It’s you! Where have you been?’

  Just for a second, I am hesitant in acknowledging her: compared with me, she seems to be another nobody mindlessly plodding along Bole, so why talk to her? And within that same second, I remember Selam and then Madame and Nazia, and all the pointless superiority acts those frightened people employ that fool no one and fail to understand the equality of life. No, that’s not me. I greet Tsehay with a true smile and a long hug. I give her the real Meron.

  ‘Lebanon . . . I was a maid.’

  ‘How was it?’

  ‘Well, look at me!’

  ‘Wow! Can you recommend it?’

  ‘Actually, not at all, it was a total nightmare, I was reduced to nothing . . . but you’ll still go . . .’

  Tsehay’s envy is difficult to conceal. It’s caught in her eyes, midway between the false smile and the frown.

  ‘Yes, I might . . .’

  It’s her turn to make the mistake.

  Ecclesiastes 1:9: ‘What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done: and there is nothing new under the sun.’

  Now to find myself a worthy man.

  About the Author

  Son of a Fleet Street journalist, Paul Timblick has travelled and taught English in numerous countries over the last fifteen years. One of them – Peru – inspired his first book Perune Juice, a humorous ramble through the highs and lows of Peruvian culture. Completed in 2011, this was the year he met his wife-to-be, Fasika Sorssa, in Ethiopia. She recounted her horrifying experience as a domestic worker in Lebanon, under the Middle Eastern ‘kefala’ system, while also revealing a quirky set of survival skills. The idea for a book that was simultaneously riveting and awareness- raising stirred Paul into writing Fasika’s story. No Lipstick in Lebanon aims to open eyes, minds and hearts.

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  The names listed below are of readers who have pledged their support and made this book happen. If you’d like to join them, visit: www.unbound.co.uk.

  Someah Alangari

  Mohammed Zaid Albelaikhi

  Fahad Almansour

  Rachel Brown

  Helen Cripps

  Peter Dunne

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  Isobel Frankish

  Jo Gamage

  Naomi Giaretta

  Cyrus Gilbert-Rolfe

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  Martha Harron

  Jacqueline Hartnett

  Mark Henderson

  Aurelie Irsapoulle

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  Abbie Mason

  John Mitchinson

  Judy Munday

  Udi Nachmany

  Carlo Navato

  Justin Pollard

  Keith Roberts

  Bettina Sands

  Gareth Thomas

  Christine Timblick

  Terry Timblick

  Paul Tompsett

  Jayne Whistance

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  This edition first published in 2015

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  All rights reserved

  © Paul Timblick, 2015

  The right of Paul Timblick to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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  Art direction by Mecob

  A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978-1-78352-108-1 (trade hbk)

  ISBN 978-1-78352-110-4 (ebook)

  ISBN 978-1-78352-109-8 (limited edition)