A multigenerational tale of love, loss, exile, and rebirth, shortlisted
for the 2016 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. As children
sleeping on the rooftop of their ancestral family home in Raqqa on warm
summer nights, Joumane and her sisters imagine the sky is so close they
can almost touch it. Years later, Joumane lives as an expatriate in
Jordan, working for a humanitarian agency, while her sisters remain
trapped in war-torn Syria. Living alone as she fights her own battle
with cancer, she contemplates the closeness of the same sky, despite the
sharply delineated borders that now separate her from her family. Her
only close confidant is another exile, a charming, divorced Palestinian
man with whom she develops a warm relationship--later discovering that
their relatives were neighbors in Syria. As Joumane undergoes painful
chemotherapy treatments, Nasser slides into the role of her caretaker
and partner. She comes to depend on him utterly, at the same time
fearing that her vulnerability and need will ultimately drive him away.
Interspersed with Joumane's story is a sweeping historical narrative
that moves from nineteenth-century Aleppo, Raqqa, and Damascus, to
Palestine before and after the 1948 Nakba, to Iraq before and after the
American occupation, and beyond to the United States, Serbia, and
Vietnam. Each character in the book is revealed, and linked, through the
stories of their ancestors, showing the intergenerational inheritance of
trauma and identity. Ujayli's attention to detail and evocative prose
brings to life worlds forgotten and ignored, reminding us of the
devastation of war and the beauty that people create wherever they go.
As children sleeping on the rooftop of their ancestral family home in
Raqqa on warm summer nights, Joumane and her sisters imagine the sky is
so close they can almost touch it. Years later, Joumane lives as an
expatriate in Jordan, working for a humanitarian agency, while her
sisters remain trapped in war-torn Syria. Living alone as she fights her
own battle with cancer, she contemplates the closeness of the same sky,
despite the sharply delineated borders that now separate her from her
family. Her only close confidant is another exile, a charming, divorced
Palestinian man with whom she develops a warm relationship--later
discovering that their relatives were neighbors in Syria. As Joumane
undergoes painful chemotherapy treatments, Nasser slides into the role
of her caretaker and partner. She comes to depend on him utterly, at the
same time fearing that her vulnerability and need will ultimately drive
him away. Interspersed with Joumane's story is a sweeping historical
narrative that moves from nineteenth-century Aleppo, Raqqa, and
Damascus, to Palestine before and after the 1948 Nakba, to Iraq before
and after the American occupation, and beyond to the United States,
Serbia, and Vietnam. Each character in the book is revealed, and linked,
through the stories of their ancestors, showing the intergenerational
inheritance of trauma and identity. Ujayli's attention to detail and
evocative prose brings to life worlds forgotten and ignored, reminding
us of the devastation of war and the beauty that people create wherever
they go.
