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Hotline
A vivid love letter to the 1980s and one woman’s struggle to overcome the challenges of immigration
It’s 1986, and Muna Heddad is in a bind. She and her son have moved to Montreal, leaving behind a civil war filled with bad memories in Lebanon. She had plans to find work as a French teacher, but no one in Quebec trusts her to teach the language. She needs to start making money, and fast. The only work Muna can find is at a weight-loss center as a hotline operator.
All day, she takes calls from people responding to ads seen in magazines or on TV. On the phone, she’s Mona, and she’s good at listening. These strangers all have so much to say once someone shows interest in their lives--marriages gone bad, parents dying, isolation, personal inadequacies. Even as her daily life in Canada is filled with invisible barriers at every turn, at the office Muna is privy to her clients’ deepest secrets.
It’s 1986, and Muna Heddad is in a bind. She and her son have moved to Montreal, leaving behind a civil war filled with bad memories in Lebanon. She had plans to find work as a French teacher, but no one in Quebec trusts her to teach the language. She needs to start making money, and fast. The only work Muna can find is at a weight-loss center as a hotline operator.
All day, she takes calls from people responding to ads seen in magazines or on TV. On the phone, she’s Mona, and she’s good at listening. These strangers all have so much to say once someone shows interest in their lives--marriages gone bad, parents dying, isolation, personal inadequacies. Even as her daily life in Canada is filled with invisible barriers at every turn, at the office Muna is privy to her clients’ deepest secrets.
280 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 808 reviews
March 6, 2023
A subtle and moving novel about a young Lebanese woman who flees from war-torn Beirut and finds herself in Quebec, Canada as a single mother. Given that no one in Quebec wants to hire her as a French teacher, she takes a job as a hotline operator at a weight-loss center. After work, at home, she tries to care for her son while they both acclimate to a new country.
Dimitri Nasrallah does a great job of portraying how Muna, our protagonist, takes every effort possible to secure a life for herself and her son Omar. His prose is quiet yet powerful and highlights the pressures Muna face to assimilate to Canadian culture. He also portrays the impact of grief and loss on Muna as she tries to keep everything in her life together for herself and Omar. I found Muna such a resonant protagonist; I’m the son of Vietnamese immigrants to the US so it made me reflect with nuance on my parents’ journey, and I imagine it may pull thoughtful and similar reactions to those with related life experiences. What shines brightest in this book is Muna’s determination to put one step forward and to advance her station in life even when she’s been cruelly knocked down again and again. Hotline is a novel that prioritizes its main character’s growth and resilience over shocking plot events or big dramatic scenes.
Dimitri Nasrallah does a great job of portraying how Muna, our protagonist, takes every effort possible to secure a life for herself and her son Omar. His prose is quiet yet powerful and highlights the pressures Muna face to assimilate to Canadian culture. He also portrays the impact of grief and loss on Muna as she tries to keep everything in her life together for herself and Omar. I found Muna such a resonant protagonist; I’m the son of Vietnamese immigrants to the US so it made me reflect with nuance on my parents’ journey, and I imagine it may pull thoughtful and similar reactions to those with related life experiences. What shines brightest in this book is Muna’s determination to put one step forward and to advance her station in life even when she’s been cruelly knocked down again and again. Hotline is a novel that prioritizes its main character’s growth and resilience over shocking plot events or big dramatic scenes.
September 14, 2022
This was incredible. I haven’t felt this emotionally invested in a character in some time (the last being Mungo in Young Mungo). I was so involved, so absorbed. About the unfairness of life and the unflinching will to go on. A beautiful, tender book, and emotionally devastating. One of my faves for sure. Will definitely linger.
February 6, 2023
I LOVE Canada Reads!! It introduces me to books that I might not have read, engages the country in books, reflection and a fun 4 days of debates.
Hotline was a new to me, I was not sure what to expect from it's bright, sassy cover. It was a tale of heartache, resilience, new beginnings and hope set in Montreal. Muna has suffered loss in Lebanon and had to make her way, supporting her son, looking for work in a new community. Those of us who lived through the 80s would remember nutrisystem meals and she worked in a similar company as she built a new life for herself and her son.
the book gives perspective on the challenges of moving from Canada, the sorrow of warfare in Lebanon and the the hope of new beginnings!
Hotline was a new to me, I was not sure what to expect from it's bright, sassy cover. It was a tale of heartache, resilience, new beginnings and hope set in Montreal. Muna has suffered loss in Lebanon and had to make her way, supporting her son, looking for work in a new community. Those of us who lived through the 80s would remember nutrisystem meals and she worked in a similar company as she built a new life for herself and her son.
the book gives perspective on the challenges of moving from Canada, the sorrow of warfare in Lebanon and the the hope of new beginnings!
March 1, 2023
I expected to like this book and hoped I would even love it but truly didn’t expect it to be as moving and captivating as it was. I tore through it in a day, and this is just the condensed version of everything I could say about it!
In Hotline, Dimitri Nasrallah takes us to Montreal in the 80s, where Muna and her son Omar have just immigrated after fleeing a war-torn Lebanon. Muna is under the impression that she’ll pretty easily be able to find work as a French language teacher, though faces barrier after barrier that makes it clear this city isn’t as welcoming as she initially thought. Without other options, she takes a job answering calls from a hotline for a weight-loss program — work she feels contempt towards at first, but quickly learns she has a knack for.
Muna is mourning her husband’s recent death, she works nonstop to make ends meet, she copes with the disappointment of her misconceptions of this country, she struggles to assimilate and navigate new cultural codes, all while supporting her son through the same challenges. Yet, Muna tackles this all with an unwavering tenacity that even the brutal Montreal winter can’t kill. We follow her through moments where her mind wanders, sending us through her dreamiest and most traumatic memories; we look into her reflection in the steam of a post-shower mirror, and listen as she calls out to her husband, begging for his presence and his comfort. But each time, we also follow her as she snaps back out of her mind, back to work, back to Omar, back to preparing dinner and being a mother and going to sleep and doing it all over again, with a wit and wisdom and drive that’s hard not to fall in love with.
Nasrallah says this story is largely based off of his own mother’s experiences immigrating to Montreal in the 80s — I think that tenderness really shines through. Only as adults can we look back and truly understand the sacrifices our parents had to make for us when we were too young to know; this novel felt like a nod of recognition, a sincere hug of gratitude, and a love letter to all the immigrant mothers who move mountains to give their children lives in a society that systematically and culturally seeks to render them invisible. What a truly phenomenal book that deserves all the love and praise in the world!
In Hotline, Dimitri Nasrallah takes us to Montreal in the 80s, where Muna and her son Omar have just immigrated after fleeing a war-torn Lebanon. Muna is under the impression that she’ll pretty easily be able to find work as a French language teacher, though faces barrier after barrier that makes it clear this city isn’t as welcoming as she initially thought. Without other options, she takes a job answering calls from a hotline for a weight-loss program — work she feels contempt towards at first, but quickly learns she has a knack for.
Muna is mourning her husband’s recent death, she works nonstop to make ends meet, she copes with the disappointment of her misconceptions of this country, she struggles to assimilate and navigate new cultural codes, all while supporting her son through the same challenges. Yet, Muna tackles this all with an unwavering tenacity that even the brutal Montreal winter can’t kill. We follow her through moments where her mind wanders, sending us through her dreamiest and most traumatic memories; we look into her reflection in the steam of a post-shower mirror, and listen as she calls out to her husband, begging for his presence and his comfort. But each time, we also follow her as she snaps back out of her mind, back to work, back to Omar, back to preparing dinner and being a mother and going to sleep and doing it all over again, with a wit and wisdom and drive that’s hard not to fall in love with.
Nasrallah says this story is largely based off of his own mother’s experiences immigrating to Montreal in the 80s — I think that tenderness really shines through. Only as adults can we look back and truly understand the sacrifices our parents had to make for us when we were too young to know; this novel felt like a nod of recognition, a sincere hug of gratitude, and a love letter to all the immigrant mothers who move mountains to give their children lives in a society that systematically and culturally seeks to render them invisible. What a truly phenomenal book that deserves all the love and praise in the world!
February 16, 2023
Beirut, Lebanon—1984. While trying to flee a war that’s been raging 10 years, Halim is kidnapped and feared dead. His widow, Muna, is devastated; Halim’s family takes her and son Omar in, allowing them to grieve. But after nearly 2 years, her brother-in-law hands her a packet of cash and tells her she should move to Canada, as she and Halim had planned. “As a French teacher you’ll find work quickly,” he tells her. So off they travel to Montreal, where she soon realises it’s not that easy. They live in a dark, dank apartment near the University, with nothing but a few second-hand things. She’s been searching for months now for a job and nearly all her savings are depleted. She’s feeling desperate when finally she’s offered a job with a weight-loss company, selling meal packages and counselling by telephone. The work seems easy and she’s good at it; before long she’s making enough in commissions to put a little aside each week. But the job means 8-year-old Omar must let himself into the apartment each day and spend hours alone until Muna gets back. And, once there, she’s too tired to do anything but make dinner from the meal packs, get Omar to bed, then fall asleep on the pull-out couch in front of the TV. This tiresome routine is beginning to take a toll on their relationship. She’s afraid she’s losing him, and worries he might blame her for everything.
O.K. Now, by this point, the tension is really ramping up, which is making me anxious.😟 Since I read to calm my anxieties, I start to think maybe I should DNF this book. But I figure I’ll give it a few more minutes and—wouldn’t you know it—things start to happen! No spoilers here, though. All I’m gonna say is that soon we’re all starting to see the sun peek out from behind the clouds.⛅
I’ve read some reviews that complain about the way this book ends, but not me! I thought it was pretty much perfect! Heck, I don’t want to read books that tie every loose end up with a bow, because life isn’t like that! Seriously, can you imagine if it was?!🤔
4 highly recommended stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
O.K. Now, by this point, the tension is really ramping up, which is making me anxious.😟 Since I read to calm my anxieties, I start to think maybe I should DNF this book. But I figure I’ll give it a few more minutes and—wouldn’t you know it—things start to happen! No spoilers here, though. All I’m gonna say is that soon we’re all starting to see the sun peek out from behind the clouds.⛅
I’ve read some reviews that complain about the way this book ends, but not me! I thought it was pretty much perfect! Heck, I don’t want to read books that tie every loose end up with a bow, because life isn’t like that! Seriously, can you imagine if it was?!🤔
4 highly recommended stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
January 22, 2023
This is the kind of book that you can spend the day with and not realize the time passing.
September 19, 2022
Such a beautiful story about a woman trying to make it as a single mother in a new land. I loved the story and although the beginning took a bit to get into, I’m so glad I read this.
July 31, 2023
This is a simple story, well told. Muna Heddad moves from Beirut to Montreal with her eight year old son Omar. It is the 1980s. She is almost a widow – “almost” because her husband was kidnapped and no body ever recovered. They had an outstanding application to emigrate to Canada, and Muna has been selected due to her job as a French teacher.
Once in Montreal though, it becomes clear that no one will hire an immigrant with a foreign accent to teach French, and the only job Muna lands is selling diet products over the phone, for which she takes on the less-exotic moniker “Mona.” Omar spends his mornings failing to integrate at school (Muna is told she should let their native Arabic slide and speak to him only in French) and his afternoons watching music videos as Muna tries to make ends meet, survive her first Montreal winter, and hold on to the ghost of her husband.
When I say it’s a simple story, I mean in terms of structure. It is chronological, organized into chapters of largely equal length, and nothing completely out-there happens (apart from Muna’s conversations with/hallucinations of her husband in the bathroom). It is a fairly classic tale of an immigration experience.
But it is well told in its easygoing psychological astuteness, and also in its specificity. Muna’s life feels lived in. Montreal feels specific and real, as does her job and her interactions with the weight-loss clients, for whom she often has to play therapist despite the much greater conflict she has fled to come here. Integration is believably difficult for her despite her excellent French, and it is unsurprising that her first friends are other immigrants, from the Chinese community.
All in all, not a surprising read, but a good one.
3.5 stars
Once in Montreal though, it becomes clear that no one will hire an immigrant with a foreign accent to teach French, and the only job Muna lands is selling diet products over the phone, for which she takes on the less-exotic moniker “Mona.” Omar spends his mornings failing to integrate at school (Muna is told she should let their native Arabic slide and speak to him only in French) and his afternoons watching music videos as Muna tries to make ends meet, survive her first Montreal winter, and hold on to the ghost of her husband.
When I say it’s a simple story, I mean in terms of structure. It is chronological, organized into chapters of largely equal length, and nothing completely out-there happens (apart from Muna’s conversations with/hallucinations of her husband in the bathroom). It is a fairly classic tale of an immigration experience.
But it is well told in its easygoing psychological astuteness, and also in its specificity. Muna’s life feels lived in. Montreal feels specific and real, as does her job and her interactions with the weight-loss clients, for whom she often has to play therapist despite the much greater conflict she has fled to come here. Integration is believably difficult for her despite her excellent French, and it is unsurprising that her first friends are other immigrants, from the Chinese community.
All in all, not a surprising read, but a good one.
3.5 stars
April 10, 2023
Title:
Hotline
Author: Dimitri Nasrallah
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: March 1, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Intimate • Endearing • Accessible
📖 S Y N O P S I S
It’s 1986, and Muna Heddad is in a bind. Having fled Lebanon's civil war, she and her son have arrived in Montreal, where she'd hoped to work as a French teacher. Unfortunately, no one in Quebec trusts her to teach the language. In desperate need to start earning money, Muna takes a job at a weight-loss centre as a hotline operator. All day, she takes calls from people responding to ads seen in magazines or on TV. These strangers all have so much to say once someone shows interest in their lives--marriages gone bad, parents dying, isolation, personal inadequacies. Even as her new life is filled with invisible barriers at every turn, on the phone Muna is privy to her clients’ deepest secrets.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Hotline was the fifth, and final, book I read in preparation for the 2023 Canada Reads debates in March. Given I was born and raised (and currently reside) in Quebec, this was certainly one of the titles that interested me the most when the longlist was released mid-January.
This novel an ode to 1980s Montreal, yet more importantly, it's an ode to the author's mother and the sacrifices she made. Although it focuses on one women's struggle to overcome the challengers of immigration, it also highlights the marginalization faced by thousands of migrants when they move to a new place. I must say I was invested in Muna's story, and was rooting for her from the very beginning.
The writing is accessible to the average reader, and although I'd have relished a little more depth, I do believe the author chose this route with intent. It keeps the focus on Muna's experience, the mounting pressures to assimilate, and of course, her perseverance. I especially loved how Dimitri Nasrallah included her husband's, allowing Muna to mourn. Additionally, painting Muna's ongoing struggle against the backdrop of the bitter, harsh realties of a Montreal winter was pure genius.
I am so glad Hotline was chosen as one of this year's Canada Reads contenders. It's certainly the novel that shifted my perspective the most. At times it made me uncomfortable, and its this uncomfortableness that makes it such a powerful and necessary book. The underlying tone is hopeful, yet it remains honest to the harsh realties faced by so many newcomers. This book also made me reflect on the fact that even though it takes place during the 1980s, nothing has really changed in 30+ years. There is still so much work to be done.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the character-driven novel
• all Canadians
• bookclubs
⚠️ CW: grief, death, death of partner, death of parent, racism, xenophobia, war, poverty, classism, eating disorder, fatphobia, kidnapping, confinement, infidelity, suicidal thoughts, murder
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"'Love is an obligation that you fall in love with over time. You will get to a place where you no longer see your lives as separate. Love is a plant that grows, and you are its custodians. You do not feel it so much as care for it, explore it, be tender to its tendencies, respect it.'
"Death is but on end."
"The kindness of life never sticks around for long."
"'That's love,' I say. I kiss his head. 'You never forget some people, and they never forget you.'"
Author: Dimitri Nasrallah
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: March 1, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Intimate • Endearing • Accessible
📖 S Y N O P S I S
It’s 1986, and Muna Heddad is in a bind. Having fled Lebanon's civil war, she and her son have arrived in Montreal, where she'd hoped to work as a French teacher. Unfortunately, no one in Quebec trusts her to teach the language. In desperate need to start earning money, Muna takes a job at a weight-loss centre as a hotline operator. All day, she takes calls from people responding to ads seen in magazines or on TV. These strangers all have so much to say once someone shows interest in their lives--marriages gone bad, parents dying, isolation, personal inadequacies. Even as her new life is filled with invisible barriers at every turn, on the phone Muna is privy to her clients’ deepest secrets.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Hotline was the fifth, and final, book I read in preparation for the 2023 Canada Reads debates in March. Given I was born and raised (and currently reside) in Quebec, this was certainly one of the titles that interested me the most when the longlist was released mid-January.
This novel an ode to 1980s Montreal, yet more importantly, it's an ode to the author's mother and the sacrifices she made. Although it focuses on one women's struggle to overcome the challengers of immigration, it also highlights the marginalization faced by thousands of migrants when they move to a new place. I must say I was invested in Muna's story, and was rooting for her from the very beginning.
The writing is accessible to the average reader, and although I'd have relished a little more depth, I do believe the author chose this route with intent. It keeps the focus on Muna's experience, the mounting pressures to assimilate, and of course, her perseverance. I especially loved how Dimitri Nasrallah included her husband's, allowing Muna to mourn. Additionally, painting Muna's ongoing struggle against the backdrop of the bitter, harsh realties of a Montreal winter was pure genius.
I am so glad Hotline was chosen as one of this year's Canada Reads contenders. It's certainly the novel that shifted my perspective the most. At times it made me uncomfortable, and its this uncomfortableness that makes it such a powerful and necessary book. The underlying tone is hopeful, yet it remains honest to the harsh realties faced by so many newcomers. This book also made me reflect on the fact that even though it takes place during the 1980s, nothing has really changed in 30+ years. There is still so much work to be done.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the character-driven novel
• all Canadians
• bookclubs
⚠️ CW: grief, death, death of partner, death of parent, racism, xenophobia, war, poverty, classism, eating disorder, fatphobia, kidnapping, confinement, infidelity, suicidal thoughts, murder
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"'Love is an obligation that you fall in love with over time. You will get to a place where you no longer see your lives as separate. Love is a plant that grows, and you are its custodians. You do not feel it so much as care for it, explore it, be tender to its tendencies, respect it.'
"Death is but on end."
"The kindness of life never sticks around for long."
"'That's love,' I say. I kiss his head. 'You never forget some people, and they never forget you.'"
May 4, 2023
This is my final read of this year’s five Canada Reads, and it might be my favourite. I loved this character-driven story of an immigrant trying to rebuild her life with her young son in Montreal in the 1980s. The novel has a positive and hopeful tone, despite the struggles she faces, and it is filled with small kindnesses and successes that remind us how we can make a difference in our own and other’s lives.
September 6, 2023
A solid story about the aftermath of war, loss and having one's life being entirely uprooted featuring a very compelling and human character. Muna is endearing without coming across as too perfect to be real and her story is multilayered in a way that makes it come across as very real.
March 10, 2023
I read this novel for Canada Reads 2023 and it certainly fits with the theme this year - "One Book To Shift Your Perspective".
Hotline gave me a deeper understanding of the plight of a newly arrived immigrant to Canada.
A heart-breaking and deeply touching story that I highly recommend!
Hotline gave me a deeper understanding of the plight of a newly arrived immigrant to Canada.
A heart-breaking and deeply touching story that I highly recommend!
March 29, 2023
Not on my radar until it was included in this year’s Canada Reads competition, I’m so thankful Hotline found its way to me. I just read and loved Catherine Hernandez’s The Story of Us. With some similar themes, this is a perfect companion read.
Set over the course of a 1980’s Montreal winter, “I curse the city and it’s sadistic weather”, this novel warmed my heart. Muna’s drive to provide a better life for her and her son, Omar, is admirable. Still grieving the loss of her husband / Omar’s father, back in Lebanon, their first year in Canada is not easy. Muna is disillusioned to be treated with disdain and disinterest by most of the people she encounters. Yet, in her job as a weight-loss company’s hotline operator, her anonymity allows clients to confide intimate, personal details of their lives, for which they’re so grateful to Muna/Mona. If those same people met her on the street, they’d likely not even meet her eyes. Yet, she strives on and as spring approaches, her new life in Canada eases and I cheered her every step forward. A short novel, I was left wanting more, more of Muna and more of Omar’s experiences.
This novel is perspective changing as an empathetic glimpse into the life of new immigrant to Canada and the challenges they face.
Set over the course of a 1980’s Montreal winter, “I curse the city and it’s sadistic weather”, this novel warmed my heart. Muna’s drive to provide a better life for her and her son, Omar, is admirable. Still grieving the loss of her husband / Omar’s father, back in Lebanon, their first year in Canada is not easy. Muna is disillusioned to be treated with disdain and disinterest by most of the people she encounters. Yet, in her job as a weight-loss company’s hotline operator, her anonymity allows clients to confide intimate, personal details of their lives, for which they’re so grateful to Muna/Mona. If those same people met her on the street, they’d likely not even meet her eyes. Yet, she strives on and as spring approaches, her new life in Canada eases and I cheered her every step forward. A short novel, I was left wanting more, more of Muna and more of Omar’s experiences.
This novel is perspective changing as an empathetic glimpse into the life of new immigrant to Canada and the challenges they face.
March 20, 2023
A truly moving novel about an immigrant’s experience in Canada after fleeing civil war in Lebanon. Highly recommend. I think this should be required reading by all Canadians. Thank you to CBC Reads for putting this incredible story on my radar.
April 9, 2024
*I listened to the audiobook that was released in June 2023 by Véhicule Press*
I loved this book so much. Set in the mid 1980's, it was a short, well narrated, and impactful story. The whole time I was rooting for Muna Heddad and her young son, Omar. Both are fairly recent immigrants to Canada from Lebanon and are working to adjust to their new lives in Canada.
The things that were touched on in this book made me stop and reflect on how fortunate I have been to be born in country where I feel safe, cared for, and surrounded by family and friends. I felt so lonely and frustrated for Muna and Omar. They are both trying to do their best as they attempt to figure out life in Montreal. Muna never stops working to provide for her son and faces many uphill battles along the way.
Because this book is going to stay with me for months (and likely years) to come, it was easy to give it a 5 star rating. Although written by a man, Dimitri Nasrallah, he wrote Muna's character so well. In the acknowledgements, Dimitri shares how this book is loosely based on his mother's story and his own childhood. They moved to Canada in the late 80's. Despite being a work of fiction, it ultimately felt very raw and personal.
For those of you that have read and enjoyed Scarborough, I can see you really liking this one, too.
I loved this book so much. Set in the mid 1980's, it was a short, well narrated, and impactful story. The whole time I was rooting for Muna Heddad and her young son, Omar. Both are fairly recent immigrants to Canada from Lebanon and are working to adjust to their new lives in Canada.
The things that were touched on in this book made me stop and reflect on how fortunate I have been to be born in country where I feel safe, cared for, and surrounded by family and friends. I felt so lonely and frustrated for Muna and Omar. They are both trying to do their best as they attempt to figure out life in Montreal. Muna never stops working to provide for her son and faces many uphill battles along the way.
Because this book is going to stay with me for months (and likely years) to come, it was easy to give it a 5 star rating. Although written by a man, Dimitri Nasrallah, he wrote Muna's character so well. In the acknowledgements, Dimitri shares how this book is loosely based on his mother's story and his own childhood. They moved to Canada in the late 80's. Despite being a work of fiction, it ultimately felt very raw and personal.
For those of you that have read and enjoyed Scarborough, I can see you really liking this one, too.
March 25, 2023
I read this book for Canada Reads and liked it somewhat. Tales of immigrants are important and insightful, but I feel like we’ve done that so many times on Canada Reads now.
April 20, 2024
Absolutely loved this story. Loved that it’s set in Montreal, my hometown. Now tied with Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow for my pick for 2024.
July 12, 2023
I finally got around to this the last few days and it was so incredibly moving. I was extremely touched by this tale of a single mom and her son settling into life in Montreal , after fleeing war torn Beirut. Muna and her son Omar face difficulties and discrimination in their first year in Canada, and Muna struggles to balance her job as a phone operator at a weight loss centre with trying to spend time with her son. As a child of immigrants , I resonated a lot with their hardships and was in awe of Muna’s strength and resilience . What a beautiful love letter to all immigrant families and their journey towards a new home and sweeter memories. A must read!
April 25, 2023
Moving story of an immigrant who moves to Montreal in the 1980s after leaving a war torn Beirut. This book really made you feel and connect with the characters. I can see why it’s a Giller prize long list candidate. You read through the hardships she faces in finding a home, finding a job, clothes, school. Great work of fiction. Read it in one evening. Canada Reads books are usually winners! Thanks so much for giving me inspiration to read different books.
May 6, 2024
This was such a beautifully moving story, I’ve found myself thinking about it a few times a day since I finished. Highly recommend the audiobook, the narrator does an amazing job.
May 20, 2024
I love stumbling upon gems that I wouldn't have picked up otherwise (and I love my libraries).
See, my libraries sometimes make unlimited licenses of an ebook and/or audiobook available for a few weeks, usually in partnership with a federal or international book club. Hotline was that book last month, so I borrowed it in a "will read it I have time - if not, no biggie" way. And then I finished it in under 24 hours.
Hotline follows Muna, a Lebanese woman who move to Montreal with her eight year old son in the late 80s. To make ends meet, she works for a not-quite-not-predatory call center in a company providing meal kits and dietary advice to people wanting to lose weight. She navigates the reality of immigration, poverty, Canadian weather, helping her child adjust, language barriers, education barriers, racism, feeling invisible in a new society, working a job with ridiculously high turnover, and isolation following trauma and tragedy.
I'm not surprised that this gripped me. Firstly, it was tremendous to read about parts of Montreal that I love and know well (the shoutouts to the used bookstore, the Word, warmed my heart). Secondly, as a child of immigrants, I warm to good immigration stories. And finally, this was genuinely just a really great read. The author' inspiration was his own mother's story, and it shows.
Recommended if you're interested in stories of resilience in the face of immigration, love the city of Montreal (but maybe not its ice storms), and want to have your heart broken by the things that immigrant parents endure for their children. 4.75 stars on SG rounded up to 5 on GR.
See, my libraries sometimes make unlimited licenses of an ebook and/or audiobook available for a few weeks, usually in partnership with a federal or international book club. Hotline was that book last month, so I borrowed it in a "will read it I have time - if not, no biggie" way. And then I finished it in under 24 hours.
Hotline follows Muna, a Lebanese woman who move to Montreal with her eight year old son in the late 80s. To make ends meet, she works for a not-quite-not-predatory call center in a company providing meal kits and dietary advice to people wanting to lose weight. She navigates the reality of immigration, poverty, Canadian weather, helping her child adjust, language barriers, education barriers, racism, feeling invisible in a new society, working a job with ridiculously high turnover, and isolation following trauma and tragedy.
I'm not surprised that this gripped me. Firstly, it was tremendous to read about parts of Montreal that I love and know well (the shoutouts to the used bookstore, the Word, warmed my heart). Secondly, as a child of immigrants, I warm to good immigration stories. And finally, this was genuinely just a really great read. The author' inspiration was his own mother's story, and it shows.
Recommended if you're interested in stories of resilience in the face of immigration, love the city of Montreal (but maybe not its ice storms), and want to have your heart broken by the things that immigrant parents endure for their children. 4.75 stars on SG rounded up to 5 on GR.
March 15, 2024
3.5/5 stars
I'm not really sure what happens in this book. Or what my feelings are. I really thought the Nutri Fort plotline was going to play a bigger role or be more dystopian.
I'm not really sure what happens in this book. Or what my feelings are. I really thought the Nutri Fort plotline was going to play a bigger role or be more dystopian.
March 29, 2023
5/5–“Hotline” tugs at you. Warms you and prods you. Its resonant, exacting sentences accumulate like snowflakes until you’re buried in feeling. Nasrallah turns even descriptions of used coats (“Its ghost feels a little more like me than the ghosts in the other coats”) and office windows (“Once it gets darker out, the office window fills with ink and it’s as if we’re working inside a dream”) into miniature dramas of their own.
For a quiet novel, “Hotline” is expertly paced. And although the storyline could have felt overly familiar (immigrant arrives in a new country, haunted by her past), Muna / Mona’s tale is made fresh and immediate by the specificity of the details and setting, and the mechanism of the Nutri-Fort call center. The life she’s left behind and the one she has now, the husband she’s lost—none are allowed to remain static as ideals or punching bags.
Marvellous at capturing distinctive voices and thoughtful about his side characters, Nasrallah gives satisfying arcs to Nutri-Fort customers, who are all shouldering burdens of their own and in need of someone—anyone—on the other end of the line who will listen. Especially delightful are his deft portraits of the kindly Mr. Saltzman and the “ostentatious” Lise Carbonneau, who is adept at her job and turns office life into a fashion show. And the immigrants from across cultures who round out the cast link skills to better their situation, adding immeasurably to the vibrant metropolis that is Montreal, a fact that too often gets drowned out by petty provincial politics.
But, of course, it is the protagonist Muna / Mona that steals the show, whether she is interacting with the television or the imagined version of her husband conjured in shower steam, or learning the rituals and social cues of her new land. Something she thinks about her clients is true of herself and of Montreal as well: “progress is not always perceptible on the surface, it doesn’t always appear where we want to see it, even though it may be happening constantly and incrementally.” In this, and innumerable other ways, Muna / Mona and Montreal become so entwined they turn into metaphors for one another. And remind this reader, once more, why he adores this place and the writers who can so beautifully capture it.
For a quiet novel, “Hotline” is expertly paced. And although the storyline could have felt overly familiar (immigrant arrives in a new country, haunted by her past), Muna / Mona’s tale is made fresh and immediate by the specificity of the details and setting, and the mechanism of the Nutri-Fort call center. The life she’s left behind and the one she has now, the husband she’s lost—none are allowed to remain static as ideals or punching bags.
Marvellous at capturing distinctive voices and thoughtful about his side characters, Nasrallah gives satisfying arcs to Nutri-Fort customers, who are all shouldering burdens of their own and in need of someone—anyone—on the other end of the line who will listen. Especially delightful are his deft portraits of the kindly Mr. Saltzman and the “ostentatious” Lise Carbonneau, who is adept at her job and turns office life into a fashion show. And the immigrants from across cultures who round out the cast link skills to better their situation, adding immeasurably to the vibrant metropolis that is Montreal, a fact that too often gets drowned out by petty provincial politics.
But, of course, it is the protagonist Muna / Mona that steals the show, whether she is interacting with the television or the imagined version of her husband conjured in shower steam, or learning the rituals and social cues of her new land. Something she thinks about her clients is true of herself and of Montreal as well: “progress is not always perceptible on the surface, it doesn’t always appear where we want to see it, even though it may be happening constantly and incrementally.” In this, and innumerable other ways, Muna / Mona and Montreal become so entwined they turn into metaphors for one another. And remind this reader, once more, why he adores this place and the writers who can so beautifully capture it.
September 21, 2022
"I am a hotline, I think, a conduit to all the answers I crave."
Muna and her son Omar have immigrated to Montreal after fleeing the civil war in Lebanon in the 1980s. As one would imagine, Muna faces many obstacles in her way to provide and sustain such basic necessities as food, money and shelter. Being a French teacher in her native country, she struggles to find a teaching job in Canada and eventually falls into a position as a hotline operator for a diet supplement company. In this role she connects with her clients on a deeper level and becomes intimately involved in their lives while climbing the corporate ladder. Muna's husband had been kidnapped in Lebanon and she lives in the uncertainty of his death while carefully trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy to her young son. In Hotline, we see Muna's evolution from a grieving widow, a struggling mother to a hopeful woman finding her own identity in her new land.
"There are times when it's easy to believe in yourself, but all that means is that you're overdue for a crisis of faith. The kindness of life never sticks around for long."
What Dimitri Nasrallah has written is a very intimate and honest portrayal of the innermost concerns and thoughts of an immigrant family. Montreal was a very effective and unique setting when it comes to languages and immigration in the 1980s and plays a predominant role in the plot. Melding elements of magical realism, 80s nostalgia, the realities of civil war, and single motherhood in a consumerist society, Hotline's Muna is a powerful protagonist alluring, vulnerable and very memorable. This book has single-handedly stoked my interest in this year's Giller Prize list.
"I am not interested in opening any more old boxes filled with memories that make no sense. I will not stare at a jar of sand or wonder where along the way everything went wrong."
"Love is an obligation you fall in love with over time. You will get to a place where you no longer see your lives as separate. Love is a plant that grows, and you are its custodians. you do not feel it so much as care for it, explore it, be tender to its tendencies, respect it."
Muna and her son Omar have immigrated to Montreal after fleeing the civil war in Lebanon in the 1980s. As one would imagine, Muna faces many obstacles in her way to provide and sustain such basic necessities as food, money and shelter. Being a French teacher in her native country, she struggles to find a teaching job in Canada and eventually falls into a position as a hotline operator for a diet supplement company. In this role she connects with her clients on a deeper level and becomes intimately involved in their lives while climbing the corporate ladder. Muna's husband had been kidnapped in Lebanon and she lives in the uncertainty of his death while carefully trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy to her young son. In Hotline, we see Muna's evolution from a grieving widow, a struggling mother to a hopeful woman finding her own identity in her new land.
"There are times when it's easy to believe in yourself, but all that means is that you're overdue for a crisis of faith. The kindness of life never sticks around for long."
What Dimitri Nasrallah has written is a very intimate and honest portrayal of the innermost concerns and thoughts of an immigrant family. Montreal was a very effective and unique setting when it comes to languages and immigration in the 1980s and plays a predominant role in the plot. Melding elements of magical realism, 80s nostalgia, the realities of civil war, and single motherhood in a consumerist society, Hotline's Muna is a powerful protagonist alluring, vulnerable and very memorable. This book has single-handedly stoked my interest in this year's Giller Prize list.
"I am not interested in opening any more old boxes filled with memories that make no sense. I will not stare at a jar of sand or wonder where along the way everything went wrong."
"Love is an obligation you fall in love with over time. You will get to a place where you no longer see your lives as separate. Love is a plant that grows, and you are its custodians. you do not feel it so much as care for it, explore it, be tender to its tendencies, respect it."
March 28, 2023
I have recently been drawn to books that take me outside my own experiences. This one is set in Montreal in the 1980s and relates the story of a Lebanese immigrant working at a hotline for a weight loss business. Muna Heddad and her son Omar have left their life in Beirut and come to Canada. They have lost husband and father Halim Khoury to the violence and lawlessness of the civil war and come to 1980s Montreal to start a new life.
Everything is an uphill battle - feeling welcome, finding a job, adapting to the language, finding a decent place to live. Muna cannot get a job teaching French, even though she is trained. The weather is brutally cold and nothing like the gentle climate of Lebanon. But Muna and Omar are survivors. Muna finds a job with a weight loss business and works the phone hotline while Omar makes an uneasy transition into the Quebecois French school system. While trying to guide clients through their weight loss, Muna hears the secret pain and heartaches of her clients over the phone line. It is a year of adaptation and discovery while Omar and Muna live cheque to cheque and try to establish a new stability.
I felt all the emotions reading this book. It truly deserves to be a finalist for Canada Reads as what could be more Canadian than the struggle to survive as an immigrant. Excepting our indigenous and First Nations people, everyone in Canada is from somewhere else in the world.
Muna's insightful observations on her experiences and new country hit home. Her raw and touching remembrances of her husband, and her loneliness for him brought a lump to my throat. Her determination to succeed at her job and provide for her son was inspirational. Without any trace of anger or blame, she points out the failures in the system to provide adequate support services to newcomers.
This is a wonderful account of the immigrant experience, which is more relevant than ever in today's unsettled and volatile world. A five star read and highly recommended. Good luck in Canada Reads Mr. Nasrallah!
Everything is an uphill battle - feeling welcome, finding a job, adapting to the language, finding a decent place to live. Muna cannot get a job teaching French, even though she is trained. The weather is brutally cold and nothing like the gentle climate of Lebanon. But Muna and Omar are survivors. Muna finds a job with a weight loss business and works the phone hotline while Omar makes an uneasy transition into the Quebecois French school system. While trying to guide clients through their weight loss, Muna hears the secret pain and heartaches of her clients over the phone line. It is a year of adaptation and discovery while Omar and Muna live cheque to cheque and try to establish a new stability.
I felt all the emotions reading this book. It truly deserves to be a finalist for Canada Reads as what could be more Canadian than the struggle to survive as an immigrant. Excepting our indigenous and First Nations people, everyone in Canada is from somewhere else in the world.
Muna's insightful observations on her experiences and new country hit home. Her raw and touching remembrances of her husband, and her loneliness for him brought a lump to my throat. Her determination to succeed at her job and provide for her son was inspirational. Without any trace of anger or blame, she points out the failures in the system to provide adequate support services to newcomers.
This is a wonderful account of the immigrant experience, which is more relevant than ever in today's unsettled and volatile world. A five star read and highly recommended. Good luck in Canada Reads Mr. Nasrallah!
March 13, 2023
Hotline is my favourite of the 2023 Canada Read contenders. It reminds me a bit of last year's Scarborough (which was also my favourite that year). It follows a low-income single mother and son who have recently emigrated from Lebanon to Montreal. Despite being qualified, racism and xenophobia prevent Muna from getting a job in her field of study so she ends up taking a job at a weight-loss call centre. Here, she becomes a weight-loss coach slash therapist.
The book discusses fatphobia in the weight loss industry but to me, never fell into fatphobic thinking itself. Muna is concerned with her clients' happiness and earning her commission and doesn't judge them based on their size. Her boss is fatphobic but also racist and generally an inconsiderate person.
It's rare these days for me to be absorbed in a book, but this one did it for me. I was so invested in Muna and her success. And I'm happy to report that this book left me feeling hopeful, happy, tender, and warm. It definitely caused some waterworks too, but overall this was such a optimistic novel. And it was Muna's attitude and fire that instilled that in me.
I'll be vague to stay spoiler-free, but I loved the inclusion of Muna's husband's character. Throughout the novel, she mourns for him and wonders about his fate. We do get closure, and that closure and the way the author folded it into the present narrative was beautiful and gentle. Its gentleness allowed this element to sneak into my heart and make me sob. Even now, remembering this, I'm teary.
content warnings:
Graphic: Death, War, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Grief, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Murder, and Kidnapping
The book discusses fatphobia in the weight loss industry but to me, never fell into fatphobic thinking itself. Muna is concerned with her clients' happiness and earning her commission and doesn't judge them based on their size. Her boss is fatphobic but also racist and generally an inconsiderate person.
It's rare these days for me to be absorbed in a book, but this one did it for me. I was so invested in Muna and her success. And I'm happy to report that this book left me feeling hopeful, happy, tender, and warm. It definitely caused some waterworks too, but overall this was such a optimistic novel. And it was Muna's attitude and fire that instilled that in me.
I'll be vague to stay spoiler-free, but I loved the inclusion of Muna's husband's character. Throughout the novel, she mourns for him and wonders about his fate. We do get closure, and that closure and the way the author folded it into the present narrative was beautiful and gentle. Its gentleness allowed this element to sneak into my heart and make me sob. Even now, remembering this, I'm teary.
content warnings:
Graphic: Death, War, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Grief, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Murder, and Kidnapping
July 4, 2024
4,25.
Okay let me tell you something. If I gave that book 4,25/5⭐️, it’s because it’s really really good. I’ve read a lot of immigration stories set in Montréal. And by a lot, I mean A LOT (30+, for research purposes). At this point, I usually give them 3 stars out of respect, because I know that they are probably not so bad for someone reading those kind of stories for the first few times, but I usually think of them as 2 stars.
But this… Truly amazing! At first, I was not convinced. But then it started to get better and better and better. Got me all emotional.
This single mother who lost her husband to the Lebanon wars in the 1980s, moved to Montréal, and was faced with all the racism of the times. As a Québécoise, it puts some things into perspective. I have a lot to think about and reflect on after finishing this read, even if it’s not necessarily exactly the same anymore.
So definitely try this one… it’s one of the best, I promise.
Okay let me tell you something. If I gave that book 4,25/5⭐️, it’s because it’s really really good. I’ve read a lot of immigration stories set in Montréal. And by a lot, I mean A LOT (30+, for research purposes). At this point, I usually give them 3 stars out of respect, because I know that they are probably not so bad for someone reading those kind of stories for the first few times, but I usually think of them as 2 stars.
But this… Truly amazing! At first, I was not convinced. But then it started to get better and better and better. Got me all emotional.
This single mother who lost her husband to the Lebanon wars in the 1980s, moved to Montréal, and was faced with all the racism of the times. As a Québécoise, it puts some things into perspective. I have a lot to think about and reflect on after finishing this read, even if it’s not necessarily exactly the same anymore.
So definitely try this one… it’s one of the best, I promise.
February 6, 2023
*2023 Canada Reads shortlist*
Loved this story of a young Lebanese mother and her son fleeing civil war in the 80’s to begin a new life in Montreal. I rooted for them the entire book. Muna faces many obstacles and struggles in her first year in Canada. But she is determined to make a better life for her son, whatever it takes. I really liked all of the kind side characters who help her out along the way as well.
Loved this story of a young Lebanese mother and her son fleeing civil war in the 80’s to begin a new life in Montreal. I rooted for them the entire book. Muna faces many obstacles and struggles in her first year in Canada. But she is determined to make a better life for her son, whatever it takes. I really liked all of the kind side characters who help her out along the way as well.
February 14, 2023
LOVE CANADA READS! Again introducing me to books like this that I wouldn’t have otherwise read, reflections I wouldn’t otherwise be having. Found this story compelling. Even though things seemed almost too perfect with things falling in place, the writing was good, characters, setting, story telling also very good.
May 31, 2023
I love reading the short list of Canada Reads every year bc there’s always one book I would never hear of otherwise and probably never read and this is it.
Man, I loved this book so much. I love the perspective, I love the story, I love Muna’s struggle, and I love the discussion of identity and starting over.
5 weight loss diet plans out of 5
Man, I loved this book so much. I love the perspective, I love the story, I love Muna’s struggle, and I love the discussion of identity and starting over.
5 weight loss diet plans out of 5
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