The variety of books written on Salt Spring Island is amazing. This month I am sharing with you a sci-fi novel for readers (ages 12 and up) who enjoy fantastical tales of dragon like creatures and other planets.
A Disappearance in Damascus, A Story of Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War by Deborah Campbell
Author Deborah Campbell may currently call Salt Spring home, but she has lived in many much more turbulent, less peaceful places. As a journalist writing for Harper's, The Economist, The Guardian and others, she has reported from, and lived in such places as Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, Israel, Palestine, Mexico, Cuba and Russia. Much of her kind of writing is "immersive journalism" which involves living among the societies she covers.
Set in both Baghdad, Iraq andDamascus, Syria, she befriends a dynamic woman, Ahlam, who has friends and contacts among Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians as well as westerns, including journalists. Ahlam was a so called “fixer”, serving as ‘matchmaker’ between news agencies and local sources. Ahlam made no distinction between religions, beliefs or cultures. During her time of living in Baghdad and Damascus, Deborah Campbell became a close friend of Ahlam and her family. Ahlam sets up and runs a school for girls in her home.
This nonfiction book not only shares the harrowing story of Ahlam’s disappearance (into Syrian jails) but also offers an insider’s look into a mysterious culture and country of which little is knowns besides what we see daily on the news. The book is a gripping tale of suspense and dedicated friendship. It also shares insights into, and a deeper understanding of, people whose lives are torn apart by religious beliefs, oppression and war. I couldn’t put the book down and learned much about daily life in Syria.
Deborah Campbell is the recipient of three National Magazine Awards. She has guest lectured at Harvard, Berkeley, Zayed University in Dubai, the Munk School of Global Affairs, the Liu Institute for Global Issues and the National Press Club in Washington, and has commented on Middle East and media issues for CBC's The Current and The New York Times. She currently teaches at UBC.
Winner 2017 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize (BC Book Awards)
Recipient of the 2017 Freedom to Read Award
Winner of the 2016 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction
Longlisted for the 2016 British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
- Published by Knopf Canada
- ISBN-10: 0345809297
- ISBN-13: 978-0345809292
