Janine Di Giovanni’s gorgeously rendered Ghosts by Daylight is a quixotic love story as well as a raw account of a life lived in danger zones. The romance begins during the bloody siege of Sarajevo in the summer of 1993. She is a reporter for the London Sunday Times; he, a French cameraman named Bruno Girodon.

“Many years and a dozen wars between us passed,” di Giovanni writes of their unconventional courtship. There are “endless phone calls, three miscarriages, much of what the French call malentendu, break-ups, a breakdown and a lot of alcohol.” But an enduring bond persists between the two, and when Girodon, on assignment in Rwanda, finally proposes to di Giovanni, stationed in Somalia, he does so over the phone (she takes the call “amid the gunfire”).

By 2002 they’re living together in Côte d’Ivoire as civil war erupts. They decide that Paris, where there are “no car bombs or road checks or crazed ten-year-old soldiers waving RPGs in your face,” will be a safer place for them to start a family.

What can go wrong with a war-fired union, forged under siege and elevated by the most difficult of circumstances? Di Giovanni and Girodon are a pair of courageous, ardent souls who have shared intense experiences in the world’s most broken places. But it is ordinary life—the attempt to raise a child in peace amid the memories of so much horror—that might undo their marriage or, if they let it, grace them with the freedom that comes from learning to forget.

Kat Kat Di Giovanni’s Eggplant Rollatini

Prep time: 60 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Serves 10 to 12

       4        eggs

       ¾       teaspoon salt

       3        medium eggplants, peeled and sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick slices

       2        cups seasoned        bread crumbs

       11       tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese

              Olive oil (about 1½ cups)

       32       ounces ricotta cheese

       1½ cups fresh shredded mozzarella

       1        small red or green bell pepper, chopped fine

       4        tablespoons parsley, chopped

       2        tablespoons basil, chopped

       5        to 6 cups marinara sauce

1.In a large bowl, beat the eggs and ¼ teaspoon salt. Add eggplant slices, and turnto coat evenly. In another large bowl, combine breadcrumbs and 3 tablespoons Parmesan.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in each of two large skillets over medium heat. Dip eggplant slices in bread crumbs, and add to skillets in batches. Fry on each side until golden brown. Remove to a paper-towel-lined platter to drain.

3. Preheat the oven to 350º. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, the remaining 8 tablespoons Parmesan, ½ cup of the mozzarella, the bell pepper, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt.

4. Place 1 cup of the marinara sauce in each of two 13-by-9-inch baking dishes. Spread a layer of ricotta mixture on the eggplant slices. Roll up, and place seam-side down in the baking dishes. Top with the remaining sauce. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Add the remaining 1 cup mozzarella during the last 10 minutes of baking. Let sit 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley.