the book John Marks's novel The Wall, a psychological thriller and a New York Times Notable Book, examined a decisive historical moment: the fall of the Berlin Wall. War Torn, its thematic sequel, grapples once again with the meaning of profound historical change for people who have never experienced it, in this case civil war in the former Yugoslavia, viewed against the backdrop of the reunification of Germany. War Torn picks up where The Wall leaves off. It begins in the hangover period, after the euphoria and optimism of 1989 have faded, when the consequences of those changes have become all too clear-and one of the gravest consequences is the first war on European soil in half a century. While Berlin has come to the end of its historical nightmare, Mostar, like a perverse Balkan version of the German city, is dividing between East and West in a war that pits neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, Christian against Muslim. The story of two lovers-Arthur, a rootless American journalist posted in Berlin, and Marta, a Muslim from the city of Mostar-War Torn provides a powerful, poetic, and unusually intimate depiction of war's devastations, a searing front-line description of the ways in which war can affect the lives of ordinary citizens. Through Arthur and Marta, we experience the personal shattering of a city, of a family, of an individual---and the redemptive possibilities of love. But War Torn is also a probing novel of ideas: through Arthur's journalistic lens, John Marks examines the inner lives of two mirror image cities, and through fiction he allows us to better understand the changing times in which we live.