416 pages.
Expected publication date: July 18, 2023 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Fiction/historical.
An epic and complicated read, this is the story of a family across generations, anchored on Zakariya, his adopted brother Hanna, and their sister, Souad, in the Syria of the early 1900s to 1950s. It starts with a terrible flood that washes most of a village away, altering the lives of the survivors. Through a complicated timeline, we are immersed into the lives of the three, and those connected to them, as well as the life of Aleppo and nearby villages, the region, and Europe.
With a fascinating cast of characters, the novel is about the vagaries of life, love and loss. Zakariya and Hanna are closer than brothers, with their connection stretching back into the past before them, through their grandfathers, and then into the future through their children, and into old age. They grow up together in the back alleys of Aleppo, prosper together as land owners, and then fail together. Souad is the third in their deep connection, and although initially her role is not completely clear, by the end we see her important to Hanna’s story.
It was a delight to be immersed into the rhythms of Khaled Khalifa’s writing, and a time that’s now past. I didn’t know much about the history of Syria, and this historical novel painted a vivid image for me of that time and place. It’s also the first novel I’ve read that’s set in the Middle East/West Asia that’s from the point of view of characters belonging to the three major religions: Jews, Christians and Muslims live and love together, connected by far more than simply the ways they worship. Khalifa depicts this beautifully. I also learnt about the impact of the Ottoman Empire on that region, about the famine there, Turkish and French occupation, the Armenian massacre, and other events of the time.
Read this exceptional novel if you enjoy historical fiction, and also for the evocative writing. These characters will stay with me for a while.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC.
You can support independent bookshops, and my writing, by buying it on Bookshop here.
Harare Review of Books 
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