Memoir books from Syria
Recommended memoir books (6)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into memoir here are some memoir books from Syria for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
Butterfly : From Refugee to Olympian, My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph by Yusra Mardini EN
Description:
"Being a refugee is not a choice. Our choice is to die at home or risk death trying to escape." - Yusra MardiniYusra Mardini fled her native Syria to the Turkish coast in 2015 and boarded a small dinghy full of refugees bound for Greece. When the small and overcrowded boat's engine cut out, it began to sink. Yusra, her sister and two others took to the water, pushing the boat for three and a half hours in open water until they eventually landed on Lesbos, saving the lives of the passengers aboard. This is the story of that remarkable woman, whose journey started in a war-torn suburb of Damascu... continue
2.
Growing Up bin Laden : Osama's Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World by Najwa bin Laden, Omar bin Laden, Jean Sasson EN
Description:
From the New York Times bestselling author of Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia In their own words, Osama bin Laden's wife and son tell the astonishing story of the man they knew—or thought they knew—before September 11, 2001. The world knows Osama bin Laden as the most wanted terrorist of our time. But people are not born terrorists, and bin Laden has carefully guarded the details of his private life—until now, when his first wife and fourth-born son break the silence to take us inside his strange and secret world. In spine-tingling detail, Jean Sasson tells their... continue
3.
Hope Not Fear: Finding My Way from Refugee to Filmmaker to NHS Hospital Cleaner and Activist by Hassan Akkad EN
Description:
An extraordinary story that deals with the urgent issues of our era . . . a story about resilience, renewal' - Elif ShafakA stunning testament to human strength, courage and compassion, Hope Not Fear shows that nobody is powerless to change the world. This memoir from refugee, filmmaker, and activist Hassan Akkad traces his campaigns for justice, from protesting the Assad regime in Syria to winning greater rights for cleaners in the NHS.Since seeking asylum in the UK, Hassan's unshakeable instinct to raise awareness, help and connect, has seen him share not only his experience as a refugee, bu... continue
4.
The Pianist of Yarmouk by Aeham Ahmad EN
Description:
'Ahmad has created a moving and visceral account of conflict, hope and the power of music' Hannah Beckerman, Observer The incredible and inspirational true story of one young man's struggle to find peace during war, and the power of music to bring hope to a desperate nation. ____________ One morning in war-torn Damascus, a starving man drags a piano into a rubbled street. Everything he once knew has been destroyed by war. Amidst ruin and despair, he begins to play. He plays of love and hope, he plays for his family and his fellow Syrians. He plays even though he could be killed for doing so. A... continue
5.
The Shell : Memoirs of a Hidden Observer by Moustafa Khalifa EN
Description:
The work of a moder-day Sozhenitsyn that exposes acts of violence and brutality committed by the Syrian regime. This compelling first novel is the astonishing story of a Syrian political prisoner of conscience—an atheist mistaken for a radical Islamist—who was locked up for 13 years without trial in one of the most notorious prisons in the Middle East. The novel takes the form of a diary which Musa keeps in his head and then writes down upon his release. In Tadmur prison, the mood is naturally bleak and yet often very beautifully captured. The narrator, a young graduate, is defiant and stoical... continue
6.
We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria by Wendy Pearlman EN
Description:
LONG-LISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL Reminiscent of the work of Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich, an astonishing collection of intimate wartime testimonies and poetic fragments from a cross-section of Syrians whose lives have been transformed by revolution, war, and flight. Against the backdrop of the wave of demonstrations known as the Arab Spring, in 2011 hundreds of thousands of Syrians took to the streets demanding freedom, democracy and human rights. The government’s ferocious response, and the refusal of the demonstrators to back down, sparked a brutal civil war that over the past fi... continue