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As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
A love letter to Syria and its people, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Salt to the Sea. 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.
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Community Reviews
This book gave me an awareness of the issues in Syria. It’s quite different from only watching the news media. Well written and thought provoking.
I applause the author and this book. The writing and the experience we follow the main character brought me on such a journey of distraught, ignorance, love, tragedy, hope and fear. Without the author over describing the experiences, it allowed me as the reader to feel the hesitation to stay with Syria but also the strong desire for a future life. I feel this is a book everyone should read to understand the inner conflicts a refugee feels leaving their homeland and to understand the life those in Syria still live. I would definitely watch this as a movie.
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow whisked me away, turned me upside down and inside out, leaving me so, so, heavy. It's haunting, yet in the middle of it: so much life, still. It's a fiction that reads like a non-fic, and if what the author aimed is to tell real stories of what people have to endure in the other side of the world through fiction, then she succeeded.
Ahhh my heart aches as I remember this book, but it's a necessary one and I'm thankful to have crossed path with Salama, Layla, Kenan, and everyone in this Lemon Tree universe.
Ahhh my heart aches as I remember this book, but it's a necessary one and I'm thankful to have crossed path with Salama, Layla, Kenan, and everyone in this Lemon Tree universe.
“It might be difficult at first. The world might be too loud or too silent. It might be neon bright or pitch black, but slowly, it’ll put itself back together. It will resemble something normal. Then you’ll see the colors.”
This line encapsulates the essence of As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow. The book took me by surprise, revealing the profound suffering of those who lose loved ones fighting for freedom. It makes you ask: how costly is that freedom? Zoulfa Katouh masterfully portrays Syria's devastation, blending war’s harsh realities with moments of hope and resilience. The emotional toll of loss is heartbreaking, leaving readers reflecting on the true price of conflict.
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