La portile taramului de nicaieri

Samar Yazbek tells of her secret trips back to Syria. She went back during its civil war. The Assad regime had forced her into exile. She returned to see how war had changed her country. Her account starts with the first protests for democratic rule. It covers the Free Army’s rise and the arrival of ISIS.

She writes about troops and people outside the armed forces. Both groups struggle to stay alive. Young men refuse orders to shoot. Children spend their days in bunkers. People live with the threat of gunfire. Yazbek also faces death on her trips. She finds that places freed from Assad’s rule have grown closed and unsafe. Armed groups shoot people who work for freedom. They also kidnap journalists from other countries.

This memoir blends news reports with a close look at politics. It also draws on the art of writing. It gives readers of Syrian history a witness’s view of war. Yazbek was born in 1970. She is a Syrian writer and journalist. She also works for human rights. She studied Arabic literature at Tishreen University in Latakia. She took part in protests against Assad before her exile. She has written seven novels and two books of short stories. She has also written two memoirs about Syria’s revolution. Both memoirs have won awards.

Laura Sitaru translated this edition from Arabic. It forms part of the Anansi Ego collection. The book has also won the PEN Pinter Prize.