I was immediately drawn into this story. A powerful story that is sure to linger in your mind. A story of love, family, and determining what âhomeâ means and where it is.

On January 27, 2017, Executive Order 13769 was issued, suspending Syrian refugees' admission into the US indefinitely. You probably heard about and went on with your life as usual, as it did not impact you. But how about those it did impact? What did it mean to them?

This is the heartbreaking story of a young Syrian couple living in the US and how they were ripped apart by this travel ban. And it happened on the eve of their first child's premature birth. Hadi was a sponsored refugee in the US on a visa and had left the US only for a few days to assist his mother with his father's funeral. But when he arrived at Logan International Airport, he was denied entry and deported. As Hadi struggles to return to his family in the US, you are forced to wonder if they will ever be reunited? Both Hadi and his wife Sama struggle with the uncertainly of life now, neither understanding exactly how this happened to them. It is unsafe to return to war-torn Syria. As Syrian refugees, they have âno land to light on.â And Sama is well aware of the future their son could have as an American citizen, having been born in the US. This weighs heavily on her mind as she tries to sort out her next step.

Told in the alternating points of view of Hadi and Sama, the story tugged at my heart and made me angry at the injustice they, and others like them, endure. They are trapped in a situation beyond their control. The writing is beautiful and, at times, poetic, expressing their longing to be reunited.

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"Home is not a place, but the people you love." - Yara Zgheib, author of No Land to Light On

No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib is very emotional, and hearing the author discuss her novel with readers made me appreciate it so much more. Thank you to @kellyhook.readsbooks and @beachesbooksnbubbles for hosting a conversation with Ms. Zgheib; a recording is available at https://tinyurl.com/3b6nbvyv

The story centers around Sama and Hadi who came to the US from Syria under very different circumstances. They meet, fall in love, and create a life together. When his father dies suddenly in Jordan, Hadi flies back for the funeral, planning to return to Sama, who is five months pregnant, in a few days. However, on the very day Hadi is to return, the US President signs an executive order preventing Syrian nationals from entering the country.

Interspersed with their story, told in spare yet lyrical prose, are brief interludes describing the migratory behaviors of birds. These allude to Sama's field of graduate study, provide an allegory for her and Hadi's actions, and provide a welcome respite from the heavy sadness of the plot.

Through the author discussion, I learned that this novel is strongly autobiographical; Ms. Zgheib and her husband were forced apart by a different set of political circumstances while their twins were born prematurely and in the NICU for an extended period of time. As a result, they lost everything, their home, their jobs, their money, and were forced to live outside the US for a year. She wrote this book three times, first as her diary, then as a novel filled with anger and frustration, and then as the book that was published in January 2022.

Reading this story at the same time our family experienced a difficult time and while political tensions escalated in Ukraine was a study in contrasts: fact vs. fiction and local vs. global focus.

Many thanks to Atria Books for the review copy of this novel, to Kelly and Ivana for hosting an outstanding author discussion, and to Yara Zgheib for sharing her deeply personal experiences.

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