Season of Betrayal

“Ms. Robertson writes with a crisp, clear, tough voice reminiscent of Joan Didion’s journalism. Her portrait of Beirut—at once vivid and meticulous—displays a reporter’s gift for detail.”
—Wall Street Journal

“A captivating journey into war-torn Beirut and the equally dangerous frontlines of human relationships. Robertson brings her keen reporter’s eye to this evocative and moving story of love, loss, and, of course, betrayal.”
—Anderson Cooper, Host, Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

“An exceptional first novel, gripping and real….Enthusiastically recommended.”
—Library Journal  (Starred Review)

“…An enlightening read.”
—Jerusalem Post

“Debut novelist Robertson draws a powerful story… [she] solidly dramatizes the ironies and ambiguities, moral and otherwise, of [the Middle East in the 80s].”
—Publishers Weekly

“The novel manages to be entertaining as well as enlightening, and helps the reader hack through the web of cultures and beliefs that make up the complex tapestry of the Middle East.”
—BookPage

“Season of Betrayal is a rollicking, and at times, intense read and an affecting book.”
—Peter Bergen, author of Holy War Inc., and The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda’s Leader

“Filled with love, death, and fear, this riveting and dramatic portrayal will emotionally move the hearts and minds of every reader.”
—Chris Matthews, Anchor, MSNBC’s Hardball and NBC’s The Chris Mathews Show

“For people who want to understand the roots of the anguishing story we’re living through today in the Middle East.”
—David Ignatius, The Washington Post columnist and author of Agents of Innocence

“Movingly explores betrayal in friendship, love and war. Layer by layer, it reveals Beirut, its journalists, and a marriage. It is a page-turner in the best sense of the phrase. ”
—Masha Hamilton, author of The Distance Between Us and Staircase of a Thousand Steps

Snipers, shelling, car bombs, suicide attacks. This is Beirut 1983, and Lara McCauley is an outsider in a city at war. Against this chaotic canvas, Lara tries to hold her marriage together, but her life is quietly falling apart. Lara and Mac arrive to take up his new posting, not long after the Marines are sent in as peacekeepers to help restore stability in this fractured land, but the Marines quickly become embroiled in Lebanon’s political problems. Her husband, Mac, an American journalist, has his hands full with work and a new circle of comrades in arms at the Commodore Hotel. Lonely and scared, Lara increasingly seeks out the friendship of a Polish journalist, and their desperate affair sets into motion events with unforeseen, fatal consequences.

Margaret Lowrie Robertson was an International Correspondent in CNN’s London Bureau from 1993 to 2002, primarily covering British news and politics and other European-based stories. She covered the first Gulf War in 1991 and was one of the first female correspondents to report on live television from inside Iraq during the Allied bombing campaign. She is married to CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson, has two daughters, Lowrie and Nicky, and live in London.