Good for people who like: stories about the challenges refugees face, books that make you question the world we live in, contemporary romance.
This is a eloquently told story of the love between Hadi and Sama, which shifts seamlessly between the recent past and the present. It is a poignant story, revealed through dual narratives, which brings to the reader the painful struggles they each experience when they become separated due to a change in US immigration law - a law which leaves Sami married, and alone in America with a premature baby fighting for its life and husband Hadi forcibly removed back to the Middle East, desperately trying to find a way back to them.
No-one will read this beautifully constructed novel and fail to be moved. It is at once a timeless portrayal of the enduring power of love and a story of our times - a savage indictment of political systems which sees all immigrants as a potential terrorist threat and which fails to understand the emotional trauma on individual lives.
This book was reviewed by Andrew.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin and Readers First for an advance copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.
Shelves: General Fiction (Adult); Contemporary Fiction; March 2022
This is a eloquently told story of the love between Hadi and Sama, which shifts seamlessly between the recent past and the present. It is a poignant story, revealed through dual narratives, which brings to the reader the painful struggles they each experience when they become separated due to a change in US immigration law - a law which leaves Sami married, and alone in America with a premature baby fighting for its life and husband Hadi forcibly removed back to the Middle East, desperately trying to find a way back to them.
No-one will read this beautifully constructed novel and fail to be moved. It is at once a timeless portrayal of the enduring power of love and a story of our times - a savage indictment of political systems which sees all immigrants as a potential terrorist threat and which fails to understand the emotional trauma on individual lives.
This book was reviewed by Andrew.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin and Readers First for an advance copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.
Shelves: General Fiction (Adult); Contemporary Fiction; March 2022