Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life. Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe. But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all. Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.
The Diversity Book Club is hosted monthly by AAUW Alexandria / Women Building Cross-Cultural Friendships (WBCCF) and co-sponsored by the Alexandria Burke Branch Library.
WBCCF's goal is to give women the opportunity in a diverse and inclusive group to enrich their own lives through these relationships and help amplify the voices of all women in our community. WBCCF believes that the opportunity to come together to explore issues of race, religion, ethnicity, etc. through well-chosen books will not only further our individual learning but also create a setting in which we might ultimately decide on a community undertaking with wider implications.
The Diversity Book Club meets on the second Monday of each month at 7 PM. Please note that the group will meet on the third Monday of this month.
This program will take place by Zoom and registration is required. After registering with Bonnie Hershberg, you will be emailed the link to join this Zoom meeting.
If you have any questions about the program or would like to register, which is limited to the first 20 people, please contact Bonnie Hershberg by May 5 at hersh3b@gmail.com.
