The novel is divided into three parts: 

The first depicts the life of an ordinary family (parents, five daughters and one son) in Hama during the 1970s. Among the characters, the father Fu’ad and the eldest daughter Fidah stand out as protagonists: the first a positive and solid pillar of the family, the second, a scapegoat who sacrifices her own happiness for others.

The second part is a vivid description of the Hama massacre, based on real events. On February 2, 1982, the army led by Rif‘at al-Assad besieged the city, which had risen against the regime of his brother Hafez, president of Syria. The siege and bombardment lasted 27 days, resulting in a third of the city being destroyed and the number of victims estimated between 10,000 and 40,000.

In the third part we follow the difficulty of the family members to (re)build a life – at home or abroad – after the trauma, with an interesting outlook on the West.

Approximate number of pages: 342 p.

Foreign rights: contact the publisher