Lead Review (No Land to Light On)
- Book: No Land To Light On
- Location: Boston
- Author: Yara Zgheib
Longlisted for the 2022 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize
#fromourbookshelves
The novel opens with details of an American Executive Order, penned at the end of January 2017, that tightens entry into the USA and this is central to the narrative.
Hadi Deeb arrived in America a couple of years beforehand, had met Sama and together they were forming a new life, far away from their homeland of Syria. It is safe, they have married and they are expecting a baby. Hadi briefly has to go to Jordan to bury his father and upon his return, the Executive Order has already been initiated. He is held as an undesirable. Awaiting him in arrivals is his wife, who goes into labour.
The author takes us back in time to how they met, details a little of their histories and how they each came to be an immigrant (or, in Sana’s case, an ’emigrée’, which sounds so much less bleak to her family), back to the present. As the story evolves it takes a little concentration to keep everything straight but the poignancy of the couple’s universal story is the overriding take-away.
This is a story with continuing relevance today, how the capricious decisions of governments can upend the hopes and dreams of ordinary people and devastate lives.
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