Moderator: Jim Tillotson
Monday, March 6 4:00 pm
A love letter to Syria and its people, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Salt to the Sea.
Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life.
Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe.
But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.
Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
ReplyDeleteAS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW is heartbreaking story about war, trauma, and love. I enjoyed this story. I became emotionally attached to the characters. The book took me on a roller coaster of emotions. From happy and excited that Salama found love during such a horrible time in her country to sad and surprised when I learned about Layla. Salama was living in a fantasy world trying to escape from reality. She lost everything in the war.
Just as she is deciding to leave with Layla and honor her families wishes to protect her, she meets Kenan, the boy she had been supposed to meet before everything happened when he comes to ask for her help for his little sister whose shrapnel wounds have become worse. They connect, and she dreams of how her “might life” with him. There journey of leaving was a stressful read, hoping and praying that they are able to get onto the boat. Then the boat ride took a bad turn and again terrified that they may not make it to Italy.
Reading about the future that they had after all of the trauma warmed my heart that they were able to finally have their “might life” together.
From Renee Dastyck
What a moving debut novel! I was impressed by Katouh's prose and ability to move the story at a compelling pace through the struggles in Syria and the ultimate leaving of Homs and the perils migration to Europe entails. The romantic relationship with Kenan and Salama was believable and especially heartwarming because it was always "meant-to-be". Kenan's character was particularly engaging in his respect and love for Salama. The magical realism elements of the novel also provided dramatic tension with the embodiment of Khawf, the fear character who is the traumatic response Salama has to her conflict between staying and leaving. How does one survive anything like the struggle for freedom that has taken place in Syria over the past decade?
ReplyDeleteThis is a novel that could be offered to students as an independent read or passages could be used in classes.