Harrowing but ultimately unsatisfying as a narrative

We open with the decline of migratory birds as their food source and welcoming environments disappear. The metaphor is not subtle. We then move to Boston’s Logan airport where Syrian refugee, Hadi, has been refused re-entry to the US after his trip to Jordan to bury his father. A new executive order, Which will in fact be soon rescinded, has made him, with no evidence of any wrongdoing, an undesirable alien. Meanwhile his wife is going into early labour. The opening to the story is almost unbearably tense and compulsive though distressing reading. Alas it does get a bit confusing from there on in and I think sacrifices narrative coherency for lyricism. Descriptions of food are tremendous. I love the idea that we love the way we can, whether that be offering food or by offering money . The contrast between the adventurous nature of those who leave Syria and those who stay and endure is very poignant. But what is going on at the end I couldn’t tell you. I’m not one of those readers that demand a beginning, a middle , and an end but quite frankly this novel just disintegrated. Perhaps that too is a metaphor..