Haunting.  Powerful.  

 

“Bury me, before I bury you.  Please.”

“No one will remember our names.  No one will know our story.”

 

This might be the hardest and saddest book I’ve read all year.  It also happens to be one of the most necessary.  

 

Salama’s life is thrown into chaos… Once a student learning to become a pharmacist.  Now a surgeon in a war zone, with only on-the-job training.  Her world has changed… is changing… amidst this fight for freedom.  

 

Katouh paints a rich and moving picture of life in the times of revolution through her portrayal of Salama and Kenan.   

 

This book provides what the news (with its focus on politics) does not:  a firsthand look at how the world is changed, one person at a time, and a reminder that the brutality of war is always overcome by resilience and hope.

 

Salama and Kenan… their story is now a part of my heart and soul.  It warmed me.  It made me sob buckets of tears.  It taught me.  It broke me.  Most importantly, it rebuilt me in hope and left me inspired. 

 

Don’t miss the full author’s note at the end.  Excerpt: “This book comes from my pain, my guilt, my love, my sorrows, my dreams, and my hopes. In short, this book comes from the raw parts of my heart. “

 

For the brave people of Syria, this book is a must read.