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If you are into historical fiction here are some historical fiction books from Syria for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
Death is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa
EN
Description:
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE A dogged, absurd quest through the nightmare of the Syrian civil war Khaled Khalifa’s Death Is Hard Work is the new novel from the greatest chronicler of Syria’s ongoing and catastrophic civil war: a tale of three ordinary people facing down the stuff of nightmares armed with little more than simple determination. Abdel Latif, an old man from the Aleppo region, dies peacefully in a hospital bed in Damascus. His final wish, conveyed to his youngest son, Bolbol, is to be buried in the family plot in their ancestral village of Anabiya... continue
2.
In Praise of Hatred by Khaled Khalifa
EN
Description:
1980s Syria. Our young narrator is living a secluded life behind the veil in the vast and perfumed house of her grandparents. Her three aunts bring her up with the aid of their ever-devoted blind servant. Soon the high walls of the family home are unable to protect her from the social and political upheavals outside.
3.
Sabriya : Damascus Bitter Sweet by Ulfat Idilbi
EN
Description:
Sabriya portrays life in Damascus in the 1920's. Central to the story is Sabriya's journey to self-knowledge, intertwined with the rise and eclipse of national and feminist awareness during her painful life. The national revolt is crushed by superior foreign power and Sabriya's personal emancipation is stifled by the traditional values of a patriarchal society. Written from the point of view of a young girl passionately committed to the nationalist cause but unable, because of her sex, to take an active part, it seethes with the frustrated energy of the reluctant bystander and vividly expresse... continue