Sami and Hadi are a young Syrian couple living in the United States. Sami left Syria to spread her wings and study at university. Hadi is a political refugee who entered the States after having been imprisoned during the Civil War in Syria. Sami is pregnant with their first child.
When Hadi’s parents are visiting Amman in an effort to sort out their visas for the U.S. , the father dies. Hadi then travels to Amman to sort out the funeral arrangements. Whilst he is away the President of the United States bans immigrants from some countries, including Syria. Hadi is therefore denied entry and sent back to Amman.
From then on the novel centres around the feelings of the couple as they try to come to terms with the circumstances. They seem to make somewhat reckless decisions, especially Hadi who always seems to let his temper get the better of him.It certainly pulls at the heartstrings .
The language of the novel is very flowery with a liberal use of metaphors. The running metaphor of migratory birds did not really seem to fit in with the plight of Sami and Hadi.
I am afraid that once I was about half way through the book I began to find the flowery metaphorical writing a little tiresome. I understand that the author is a poet and I think that the story maybe would have been a little more successful for me if it had been written as a poem rather than a novel.
When Hadi’s parents are visiting Amman in an effort to sort out their visas for the U.S. , the father dies. Hadi then travels to Amman to sort out the funeral arrangements. Whilst he is away the President of the United States bans immigrants from some countries, including Syria. Hadi is therefore denied entry and sent back to Amman.
From then on the novel centres around the feelings of the couple as they try to come to terms with the circumstances. They seem to make somewhat reckless decisions, especially Hadi who always seems to let his temper get the better of him.It certainly pulls at the heartstrings .
The language of the novel is very flowery with a liberal use of metaphors. The running metaphor of migratory birds did not really seem to fit in with the plight of Sami and Hadi.
I am afraid that once I was about half way through the book I began to find the flowery metaphorical writing a little tiresome. I understand that the author is a poet and I think that the story maybe would have been a little more successful for me if it had been written as a poem rather than a novel.