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No Land to Light on by Yara Zgheib is by far one of the best books I've read in a very long time (in addition to Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan).
This book combines so many emotions: hope, sadness, worry, outrage, love, tenderness, and more!
No Land to Light On features shifting points of view between the two main characters with news editorials sprinkled throughout. The book is the story of a Syrian refugee who has become a legal US resident who falls in love with a Syrian woman who immigrated to the United States in order to attend college at Harvard. They marry and eventually find that she is pregnant.
The young couple endures the ups and downs of navigating growing love and the prospect of becoming parents while also working through different experiences and different levels of comfort within the United States -- she is far more comfortable and wholeheartedly embraces her new status as an American. he clings to his Syrian roots while feeling the pull of a new way of life.
Sama left behind bitterness and ran towards opportunity. Hadi left behind parents, friendships, and a love of the land and his father's orchards. He also left fear and violence as he moved towards the promise of freedom and a chance to start over in America, but clouded with fear of the unknown.
Upon the death of his father, Hadi returns to his homeland for the funeral. Little do they know that his attempted return to his legal home in the United States will coincide with a travel ban that includes Syrians -- even if they are legal residents of the United States.
As Sama awaits his return at the arrivals section of the airport, amid the chaos of protestors, she goes into premature labor and starts her own harrowing journey.
No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib, published by Simon & Schuster, is beautifully written, despite the sometimes difficult topics.
Up next, expect a review of the classic book Animal Farm by George Orwell.
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