Description
In the Syrian-Turkish borderlands, Khatoune searches for a home for their family. As her sons Alo and Ahme attempt to build a life for themselves, they know little about the secrets that weigh down their family history, or the troubles that the future has in store for them. So unfolds a tale of tragedy, humour, and – occasionally – joy; a tale spanning three generations that offers us an earthy glimpse into the lives of the people who have made this land their home, both along and in spite of the borders that divide them. The novel shows the strength of the Kurdish women and their steadfastness in the face of the hardships. It also addresses the fragmentation of the Kurdish identity and how international alliances affected the Kurds in their contemporary history.
About the Author
Haitham Hussein is a Kurdish-Syrian novelist born in Amouda in 1978 and now lives in London. He is a member of the Authors Society of Great Britain and a member of the Scottish PEN. He contributes to Arabic newspapers and is the founder of alriwaya.net, is the only website specializing in the contemporary Arabic fiction. His novel \\”Hostages of Sin\\” (2009, Damascus) was translated into Czech and published in 2016. It was also adapted into a play in Czech. Translated excerpts of \\”Hostages of Sin\\” appeared in an issue of the English-language magazine Banipal devoted to Syrian literature. Among Hussein’s other novels, all published in Arabic, are \\”Aram: The Descendent of Unspoken Pains\\” (2006, Damascus); \\”Needle of Horror\\” (2013, Beirut and Algeria. It was translated into French, Paris 2020, by L’Armattan) and \\”A Weed in Paradise\\” (2017, Tunisia). He has published works of literary criticism: \\”The Novel between Mining and Puzzling\\” (Aleppo, 2011); \\”The Novel and the Life\\” (2013, UAE); \\”The Novelist Beats the Drums of War\\” (2014, Dubai); \\”The Fictional Character\\” (2015, UAE); \\”Why should You be a Novelist\\” (2020, Jordan) and edited \\”The Story of the First Novel by 30 Arab Novelists\\” (2017, Dubai)
