Description
By (author) Pearlman Wendy
Short /annotation:
War forced millions of Syrians from their homes. It also forced them to rethink the meaning of home itself
:
In 2011, Syrians took to the streets demanding freedom. Brutal government repression transformed peaceful protests into one of the most devastating conflicts of our time, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions. The Home I Worked to Make takes Syria’s refugee outflow as its point of departure. Based on hundreds of interviews conducted across more than a decade, it probes a question as intimate as it is universal: What is home? With gripping immediacy, Syrians now on five continents share stories of leaving, losing, searching, and finding (or not finding) home. Across this tapestry of voices, a new understanding emerges: home. For those without the privilege of taking it for granted, home is both struggle and achievement. Recasting “refugee crises” as acts of diaspora-making, The Home I Worked to Make challenges readers to grapple with the hard-won wisdom of those who survive war and to see, with fresh eyes, what home means in their own lives.
Review quote:
“Pearlman weaves these tales together beautifully, artfully teasing out their commonalities, complexities, and contradictions…effectively centre[ing] the voices of refugees, drawing unexpected and incisive conclusions from her rich data… A stunningly curated text that strikes at the core of what it means to exist as a person in the world.”
Review quote:
“[A] vital book … a compendium of oral histories at once honest, instructive and devastating, collected through the tireless efforts of one of the most intellectually and morally astute thinkers working today.”
Review quote:
“When I opened this book, I expected to learn a lot about Syria; I didn”t expect to learn so much about the meaning of home. Individually, these are urgent stories, beautifully crafted in simple, elegant prose. Collectively, they are a powerful reflection on home, on Syria, and on the inner struggles of its diaspora. A must-read for anyone who has ever craved home.”
Biographical note:
Wendy Pearlman is professor of political science at Northwestern University. She speaks Arabic and is the author of five books on the Middle East, including We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria, which was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence.
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