A review by bookreviewswithkb
Refuge by Dina Nayeri

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

i am a sucker for literary prose that makes ordinariness seem beautiful and magical and mysterious. there are lines in this novel i read over and over, ingesting and savoring and holding on to their beauty. 

the most important aspect of a book for me is how it made me feel - or whether or not it made me feel. let me tell ya, i felt! sadness to my bones, a heaviness in my heart, empty and whole

how do we both nurture and savor our past selves while also allow ourselves to become and change? how do we manage to leave behind our lives in the country we are born and not want to nurture and explore that part of ourselves even in our new country with our new life? how do we understand the sacrifices a parent may or may not be willing to make for their children? how do we forgive? 

where do we find refuge when every part of us feels lost?

“and photos were paper, images from a life he no longer lived. they were stray sparks from a fire too far away to offer warmth.”

“when you learn to release that first great windfall after the long migration, when you trust that you’ll still be you in a year or a decade, even without the treasures you’ve picked up along the way, always capable of more - when you stop carrying it all on your back - maybe that’s when the refugee years end.”