The Foreign Aide
A psychological thriller set in 1970s Beirut
Publication Date - June 9 2026
Recommendation: Sample a few chapters of the book here first, just to get a feel for it. Then, if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read and want to continue, sign up to join my Advance Reader Copy (ARC) team to get a FREE copy of the entire book immediately — in return for an honest review at launch.
The Opening Chapters
Question
Scene-setting. What does ‘nationality’ really mean? Are you born with it, or can it be claimed? Would you fight for your country?
Rooster
Our 4 main characters meet. Richard is nonplussed by Monique’s secret — and unique — talent.
Explosion
Dinner at Lawrence’s is interrupted by news of a serious incident in the Beirut suburbs … and then by an explosion.
Marriage
The backstory of Richard and Claire’s relationship and their life in London. Their marriage is solid … or is it?
Skirmishes
Trouble at home. Trouble in the classroom. We meet Dave, who shows Richard how to sort out a fight.
Militia
Dangerous times for Richard and Monique — in more ways than one — as the war approaches.
Cancer
Lawrence gives a history lesson, and stuns Richard with a secret. Meanwhile horrifying violence is breaking out in Beirut’s suburbs. Will Richard and Claire’s apartment be safe?
In brief ...
A country slides into war. A marriage self-destructs.
Beirut, 1975.
New arrivals in the city, British couple Richard and Claire Devine fall under the spell of charismatic American journalist Lawrence Anderson and his captivating Palestinian girlfriend, Monique.
In those thrilling early days, even the outbreak of factional violence across the city feels exhilarating. The world is watching—but the four friends remain safe, expatriate observers of somebody else’s war.
As the fighting intensifies, so do their relationships and desires—until one of them feels betrayed.
In a moment their safety is shattered, their alliance broken.
And they discover that in civil war, there are no civilians.
The Foreign Aide is a psychological novel about the impact of war on those who believe themselves to be outside it. Although the story is fiction, the setting is real. Author Alan Miles arrived in Beirut at the same moment as his characters, and draws on the sights, sounds and atmosphere of the city during those extraordinary early months of conflict.
As one reader observed: “Lebanon feels like a character in the book.”
Readers who enjoy internationally set novels by writers such as Graham Greene, John le Carré, William Boyd and Baalu Girma may find much to enjoy here.