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A review by stuartjrodriguez
The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar
5.0
Good lord—this is an incredible novel. ARC reviewed for Bookshop Santa Cruz’s spring/summer newsletter.
This deeply moving and gorgeously written novel follows the intertwining stories of two young women: in 2011, Nour is a Syrian-American girl whose family becomes refugees as they escape the Syrian Civil War, while 800 years earlier, Rawiya leaves her home in Cueta in search of adventure and disguises herself as a boy to apprentice with the world’s best mapmaker. On the way, the girls find themselves walking similar paths through the Middle East and across North Africa as their resilience and resolve are tested on their search for family and home.
Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar is a fabulously talented writer, and THE MAP OF SALT AND STARS is a stunning debut. If you’re looking for a beautifully and lyrically written literary fiction novel, keep an eye out for this when it’s released in May.
This deeply moving and gorgeously written novel follows the intertwining stories of two young women: in 2011, Nour is a Syrian-American girl whose family becomes refugees as they escape the Syrian Civil War, while 800 years earlier, Rawiya leaves her home in Cueta in search of adventure and disguises herself as a boy to apprentice with the world’s best mapmaker. On the way, the girls find themselves walking similar paths through the Middle East and across North Africa as their resilience and resolve are tested on their search for family and home.
Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar is a fabulously talented writer, and THE MAP OF SALT AND STARS is a stunning debut. If you’re looking for a beautifully and lyrically written literary fiction novel, keep an eye out for this when it’s released in May.