City of Jasmine

War-torn Syria is an extremely hard place to be. Hammoudi escaped Syria. He was working in Paris as a surgeon and was very much in love and happy with his fiancé, Claire. When his passport was about to expire, he must return to Syria to have it renewed. However, once he returns, he’s told he can’t leave. The best way he knows to fight the regime is to act as a surgeon in an underground hospital for the resistance fighters. But with little medicine or supplies available, the body count piles up.

Amal is a young actress who joins protests against the government. When she learns of her father’s betrayal and when her name becomes too well known to authorities, she and her boyfriend Youssef try to get to Europe to start a new life. show more Their travels are extremely treacherous and even when they finally get to Germany, they can’t get away from their refugee status.

The subject matter of this book is not an easy one to read. The author pulls no punches when relating the horrors that the Syrian people endured. There were times it was almost too much to comprehend. But I was so captured by the plight of these three young people that I had to keep going. One thing that I am constantly on the lookout for is a book that touches my heart and this one touched it deeply. It’s a dark, tragic story with the resilient light of humanity shining through it. The author grabs your attention and won’t let you look away, even when the going gets rough.

Since I read an ARC of this book, the following quote may well be changed in the final edition, but I do hope the editor keeps it exactly as it is because it truly spoke to my soul. “The world has invented a new race – the race of refugees…”

Most highly recommended.

This book was given to me by the publicist in return for an honest review. show less

City of Jasmine by Olga Grjasnowa takes us into the lives of Hammoudi, Amal, and Youssef at the start of the Syrian uprising. All three have lead very comfortable lives until the start of the conflict and become embroiled in it for various reasons. What starts as some fairly benign protests on their part against the Assad regime, quickly turns brutal when they come up against the secret police. We are given a front row seat to the barbaric and murderous destruction of thousands of innocent lives as they are caught in the crossfire of Assad’s soldiers and the rebels fighting for the cause.

As the three eventually make their way out of Syria, their lives become even more complicated as they negotiate their refugee status in various show more countries along the way. This is a heartbreaking and difficult story to read, but I couldn’t put it down. Grjasnowa paints a vivid and well written story of what must be the lives of countless refugees. It’s an important book that I think everyone should read. show less

It's a rare novel from OneWorld Publications that doesn't end up a five-star read for me and City of Jasmine is no exception. This novel of three individuals caught up in political turmoil in Damascus is riveting and harrowing to read, perhaps even more so because the brutality of the story is tempered and enriched by an almost matter-of-fact writing style. This is likely to be one of my favorite reads of 2019.

This novel follows several young people caught in Damascus at the beginning of the 2011 Syrian revolution.

Hammoudi is a Paris trained doctor who must return to Syria to get his passport renewed. When he is denied an exit visa, he is trapped, earning governmental sanction finally including a death contract as he refuses the government mandate not to treat revolutionaries.

Amal is a young actress; Youssef a young director.

Author Grjasnowa paints a portrait of a pleasant although sometimes tense pre-war lifestyle in Damascus and Syria. As one by one basic necessities and finally safety itself disappear into chaos, a vivid answer is given to those who ask “Why don’t the refugees stay and fight?’, a rather ugly refrain that I have show more seen on social media multiple times.

Grjasnowa was a child refugee from Azerbaijan to Germany when she was eleven. She has lived in a variety of countries and is married to a Syrian national. Her understanding of the plight of refugees shines authentically from every page.

While I cared for both the characters and their outcomes, I didn’t care much for the writing.

It’s adequate, but often feels a bit stilted and not at all like the cover blurb which states that author Grjasnowa “writes sensuously and vividly”.

Some of the phrases are almost funny – “enough incense sticks to kill a cow” (how does one kill a cow with incense sticks?) And while I received a version which contains the warning that it is an uncorrected advance proof (although appears to be a regularly bound paperback version), I can’t imagine that there will be a total rewriting of the flow of the story. Whether this is indicative of the author, or the translator is impossible to tell.

There are definitely enough positives about this book that I will try another by this author. show less

*I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*

This novel really brought home the war in Syria in a way that news reports over the past few years never have. The stories of Amal and Hammoudi are both saddening and heartening, as they each see their country collapse around them and attempts to change the course of events fail. The plight of refugees is explored as well, as Amal and Hammoudi slowly lose their possessions and experience dangerous travel across land and sea. There is hope in this story, but there is also tragedy, as much remains unresolved, even in the final pages.

A deeply disturbing novel of the situation in Syria: revolt against the Assad regime, as seen through the eyes of several young people. Among them are Hammoudi, a surgeon, who, for awhile runs an underground hospital, and Amal and Yousef, students at the Institute of Dramatic Arts, she as actress, he as director. After witnessing and living through warlike conditions, the three flee the country and seek a peaceful life perhaps in Europe. The story follows their paths under grisly conditions as displaced persons journeying to another homeland. With these faces, fictional as they were, the recent refugee crisis was brought home through what they suffered. These people were possibly composites of those who told the author their stories.

An intensely moving novel that shares the fictionalized experiences of individuals who live and lived under Assad in wore-torn Syria. The violence, despair, ruined dreams, escape experiences, and then their lives as refugees is nothing less than horrifying. Ms. Grjasnowa’s writing style is unpretentious and direct, yet not overbearing. She writes with fluidity and care. This is a relevant read considering today’s national and international political climate. City of Jasmine is an interesting, well thought out novel, that tells a story and informs.