“The Living Room” is excerpted from A Game for Swallows by Zeina Abirached and translated by Edward Gauvin. It appears in PEN America 12: Correspondences.

From Mourir partir revenir. Le jeu des hirondelles. Published 2007 by Cambourakis. Copyright © 2007 by Cambourakis. By arrangement with the publisher. Rights arranged through Nicolas Grivel. All rights reserved.