Summer with the Enemy - by Shahla Ujayli (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>"An intergenerational tale of life and love seen through the eyes of three women from Raqqa The western popular imagination about the now devastated city of Raqqa, Syria is filled with static and clichâed images of the Arab world. On the news, Raqqa looks like a dusty and abandoned desert village overrun by ISIS and other brands of Islamic fundamentalists, making its desperate, impoverished people yearn to flee at all costs. In the Arab popular imagination, the image of Raqqa is not much different-this ancient city, nestled along the Euphrates river in northeastern Syria, is typically thought of by Arabs as a remote Bedouin outpost, far removed from the nearest large metropolis, Aleppo. People's real lives, however, are always more complex. Nothing could help bring these real and complex histories to more widespread attention than Shahla Ujalyli's brilliant new novel, Summer with the Enemy. This novel is a compelling tale that follows the charming, if at times difficult, everyday life of three women-Lamis, her mother Najwa, and her grandmother Karma - and all of the complexities of their relationships with each other, their extended family, and the wider social worlds they inhabit. The diversity of life in Syria, especially Raqqa, is on display throughout this book, and the stories told in its seven chapters move back and forth between time and place, with attention to the intimate details of lives and relationships, and with an eye to the larger historical and political contexts in which they live. An intergenerational novel, Summer with the Enemy traces the lives of these women not only in Raqqa where the bulk of the novel is set, but also in the places their families lived before - Turkey, Jerusalem, Aleppo and Damascus. It reminds us that Syria and Syrians have never been isolated from the world, and that indeed the lives of people stretched far beyond the confines of Raqqa's city limits, long before the online world existed"--<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><b>Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction</b> <p/><b>An Intergenerational tale of life and love seen through the eyes of three women from Raqqa</b> <p/>The western popular imagination about the now devastated city of Raqqa, Syria is filled with static and clichéd images of the Arab world. On the news, Raqqa looks like a dusty and abandoned desert village overrun by ISIS and other brands of Islamic fundamentalists, making its desperate, impoverished people yearn to flee at all costs. In the Arab popular imagination, the image of Raqqa is not much different--this ancient city, nestled along the Euphrates river in northeastern Syria, is typically thought of by Arabs as a remote Bedouin outpost, far removed from the nearest large metropolis, Aleppo. <p/>People's real lives, however, are always more complex. Nothing could help bring these real and complex histories to more widespread attention than Shahla Ujalyli's brilliant new novel, <i>Summer with the Enemy</i>. This novel is a compelling tale that follows the charming, if at times difficult, everyday life of three women--Lamis, her mother Najwa, and her grandmother Karma - and all of the complexities of their relationships with each other, their extended family, and the wider social worlds they inhabit. The diversity of life in Syria, especially Raqqa, is on display throughout this book, and the stories told in its seven chapters move back and forth between time and place, with attention to the intimate details of lives and relationships, and with an eye to the larger historical and political contexts in which they live. <p/>An intergenerational novel, <i>Summer with the Enemy</i> traces the lives of these women not only in Raqqa where the bulk of the novel is set, but also in the places their families lived before -- Turkey, Jerusalem, Aleppo and Damascus. It reminds us that Syria and Syrians have never been isolated from the world, and that indeed the lives of people stretched far beyond the confines of Raqqa's city limits, long before the online world existed.<p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>"In Summer with the Enemy, the characters are paramount. None of them are typical, much less fit into any stereotype; each opens up a different world of perception. The author, Shahla Ujayli, dedicates her book to 'the Raqqa of my memory, ' and her characters' personalities, each one uniquely molded, are her main vehicle for recreating the city as it was in the 1980s--seemingly isolated but actually with many ties to the outside world ... Instead of focusing on the war or politics, she tells a story of great loves, heartbreaks, betrayals, disputes and reconciliations among family and friends."--The Jordan Times<br>
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