Buy new:

$7.99

List Price: $27.99

Save: $20.00 (71%)

$3.99 delivery: March 29 - April 2

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Ships from	Global Brands Intel
Sold by	Global Brands Intel

Details

Ships from

Global Brands Intel

Sold by

Global Brands Intel

Share <Embed>

Other Sellers on Amazon

$11.99
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: LTtechno

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Author

Alia Malek

The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria Hardcover – February 28, 2017

by Alia Malek (Author)

145 ratings

See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$9.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$7.99

$1.48

Paperback

"Please retry"

$17.99

$14.00

$1.83

Audio CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$22.75

—

At the Arab Spring's hopeful start, Alia Malek returned to Damascus to reclaim her grandmother's apartment, which had been lost to her family since Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970. Its loss was central to her parent's decision to make their lives in America. In chronicling the people who lived in the Tahaan building, past and present, Alia portrays the Syrians-the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Armenians, and Kurds-who worked, loved, and suffered in close quarters, mirroring the political shifts in their country. Restoring her family's home as the country comes apart, she learns how to speak the coded language of oppression that exists in a dictatorship, while privately confronting her own fears about Syria's future.

The Home That Was Our Country is a deeply researched, personal journey that shines a delicate but piercing light on Syrian history, society, and politics. Teeming with insights, the narrative weaves acute political analysis with a century of intimate family history, ultimately delivering an unforgettable portrait of the Syria that is being erased.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bold Type Books
Publication date

February 28, 2017
Dimensions

6.38 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

1568585322
ISBN-13

978-1568585321
See all details

Frequently bought together

Total price: $22.89

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria by Alia Malek Hardcover $7.99
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by Global Brands Intel.
No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria by Rania Abouzeid Hardcover $14.90
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00. Details

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Albert Camus
2,992
Paperback
$9.20
Sam Dagher
134
Hardcover
$15.99
Alaa Al Aswany
304
Paperback
$13.36
Aeham Ahmad
131
Paperback
$16.35
Yassin al-Haj Saleh
17
Paperback
$12.76
Janine di Giovanni
138
Paperback
$12.29

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Rania Abouzeid
65
Hardcover
$14.90
Alia Malek
21
Paperback
35 offers from $3.74
Ayad Akhtar
2,174
Hardcover
$14.27
Roberto Lovato
147
Hardcover
$17.41
Colson Whitehead
11,810
Hardcover
$11.34
Wendy Pearlman
141
Hardcover
$14.25

Special offers and product promotions

Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In The Home That Was Our Country, Alia Malek masterfully weaves together the personal and the political, and in so doing creates an unforgettable portrait of modern Syria in all its complexities and tragedies. Malek renders multiple generations of family, friends and neighbors vividly but unsentimentally, and what emerges is a portrait of a great people held back by tyranny. As Syria suffers through its darkest days, she reminds us of the humans behind the statistics. Completely engrossing and lucid, the book explains Syria's devolution better than anything I've read."―Dave Eggers, -

"What Alia Malek has done in The Home That Was Our Country is nothing short of extraordinary. With deep love and clear-eyed honesty, she weaves together the story of a family and the history of a country. Malek addresses the personal and the political like no other writer I have read recently. This book is an urgent and necessary read."―Laila Lalami, author of THE MOOR'S ACCOUNT, -

"Alia Malek's beautiful, arresting portrait of a Syrian family over generations takes you straight to the heart of that country's agony. Malek brings you inside the intimate world of a Damascus apartment building, while weaving in her own experiences as a journalist-laying bare the struggle for freedom like no other work I know. The Syrian war is perhaps the most profound moral and political crisis of our era, and this unforgettable book will forever change the way you see it and the Middle East."

―Anand Gopal, author of NO GOOD MEN AMONG THE LIVING, -

"Alia Malek has written a beautiful, nuanced account of Syria recalling its complex political and social history, its many peoples, and her own family in this vividly detailed memoir. For a deeper understanding of the past and of the present Middle East, read this book. It offers not easy answers, but the "rougher edges of truth" that allow for a more profoundly humanistic portrait of the region and the causes of the current unrest. I missed home as I read: the hospitality and customs and cuisine; the diverse inhabitants that make up the rich tapestry of the old cities and villages; the women, of all socioeconomic backgrounds, who form the backbone of family life-the way it once was."

―Micheline Aharonian Marcom, author of THREE APPLES FELL FROM HEAVEN, -

"Alia Malek takes us on a journey through time as she travels from her birthplace of Baltimore to the country from which her family hails, Syria. There she rediscovers her own family history through the renovation of her grandmother's home. She finds the meaning of what it is to be Syrian through the diverse characters that lived in her grandmother's building in Damascus. But as Malek restores her grandmother's home she watches her country fall apart with the Syrian conflict unfolding in the background. She tells the story of violence engulfing Syria as a brutal war shatters the mosaic of ethnicities and faiths that make up the Syria she'd always known. A beautiful, nuanced and human memoir that weaves the tale of Syria's history through Malek's own family and leaves the reader with the vivid sense of loss, alienation and fear likely common to all Syrians trapped in this conflict."

―Leila Fadel, Middle East Correspondent, NPR, -

"Moving and insightful, Malek's memoir combines sharp-eyed observations of Syrian politics, only occasionally overdone, with elegiac commentary on home, exile, and a bygone era. Provocative, richly detailed reading."―Kirkus Reviews, -

"Malek's multigenerational memoir is a brilliant combination of geopolitics and family history...Malek courageously tells the stories of unforgettable family members and friends, including underground humanitarian aid workers who continue despite the risk of torture and execution."―Publishers Weekly, -

"Malek's writing vividly captures the personalities of her family members and friends as well as her own impressions of Syria, allowing readers insight into the personal stakes of the ongoing war."―Laura Chanoux, Booklist, -

"The Home That Was Our Country, is one of the finest examples of this new testimonial writing... Malek's memoir will remain essential reading in the emerging body of literary reportage from Syria in English... Such stories couldn't be more urgent."―New York Times Book Review

"Alia Malek has penned a powerful and necessary read that sheds light on and helps our own understanding of the people behind the crisis in Syria."

―The Toronto Star

About the Author

Alia Malek is an award-winning journalist and civil rights lawyer. She is the author of A Country Called Amreeka and editor of Patriot Acts and EUROPA. Her reporting has appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Policy, Nation, and Christian Science Monitor, among others.

Start reading The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Product details

Publisher : Bold Type Books; 1st edition (February 28, 2017)
Language : English
Hardcover : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 1568585322
ISBN-13 : 978-1568585321
Item Weight : 1.28 pounds
Dimensions : 6.38 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #764,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #191 in Syria History
- #703 in Historical Middle East Biographies
- #719 in International Diplomacy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
145 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		80%
4 star		12%
3 star		4%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

A.K.

A glimpse into the past

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

Alia Malek intertwines several families living in a small neighborhood in Syria. She starts off with her own family starting several generations before her until we meet her present-day family as well as the neighbors that inhabited the neighborhood for generations. Her book is a must read for anyone who is interested not just in the Syrian conflict but what life was like long before the civil war started. I finished this book in less than 48 hours if that says anything about how enticing it was for me.

20 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Required reading if you're going to say a word about Syria -- or even if you're not.

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2017

Verified Purchase

There's so much more to Syria than its conflicts: I think this book is required reading for anyone who wants to understand that. Period.

Malek's book begins by narrating the country's birth, first through the story of her larger-than-life great-grandfather and mother. (I foresee a movie adaptation, beginning with Marta building ovens to feed the poor). We get to know her grandmother's Damascus apartment block, where Malek herself lived in 2012.

In the opening chapters, history I'd thought I knew felt reframed, and coloured by these characters. She makes abstract-seeming personas tangible, even the founder of Baath and rival Islamic and secular factions becoming personalities. The book's pace quickens with Malek's first visit to Syria in 1992, and reels you into its novelistic-feeling narrative. I'd meant to read it slowly, but could barely put it down.

If you're as suspicious of memoirs as I am, rest assured that Malek's book is one of the the exceptions (it reminded me of Isabel Allende's PAULA, Karol Nielsen's BLACK ELEPHANTS, or Dexter Filkins' THE FOREVER WAR). Malek keeps the focus tight; she leaves out much of her life when not in Syria. We only learn about Salma's granddaughter, and we grow to love her cousins and her home. The vivid descriptions made me miss the Syria I will now never know, from multi-religious Damascus to "Aleppo's great restaurants" (a phrase I never thought I'd read). Losses that preceded her story are just as vivid: the loss of Damascus' once-thriving Jewish Quarter, brought me to tears.

This book doesn't just belong on your shelf. It belongs in your heart.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Omar D

THTWOC is an absolutely fantastic read. It's a highly engaging tale that beautifully ...

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

From cover to cover, THTWOC is an absolutely fantastic read. It's a highly engaging tale that beautifully weaves together a family history with the history of modern Syria. The story humanizes Syrians in a manner that few other works of art have managed to do in recent memory. This book conveniently arrives at a time when Syrians have been otherized in the media and political arenas, resulting in unwarranted anger and discrimination as they flee their war-torn homeland. THTWOC is a must read to understand the conflict's roots and origins as well as how ordinary people have endured the uprising and war during all these years. Job well done, Alia.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sam A. Mawn-Mahlau

Especially Recommended for High School and College History and Political Science Classes

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

Part of why Americans struggle to understand Middle Eastern history and politics is that they always begin by identifying and puzzling over our differences; in doing so, the differences become emphasized, and the puzzle becomes greater. The Middle East becomes "them". The problem is compounded by the way we teach and study the Middle East as a unit, emphasizing broad regional and religious commonalities rather than coming to understand the distinct personalities and textures of individual areas. We even eat "Middle Eastern" food instead of Syrian, Yemeni, or Iranian cuisine. The Middle East all becomes one, with lessons form one place too quickly applied everywhere in the region.

Alia Malek's book is an easily accessible corrective to all that, for in her hands the vast tract of Syrian history, from ancient times though the conflicts of the last century to the morass of today, is transformed into a personal history. We are granted the privilege of viewing through her eyes a grand drama that, really, comes down to a home: a family home, one from which the family has been evicted, which she is taking up, repossessing, and filling with new life. This is history brought into the present and viewed close up. She challenges herself to look hard at individual characters, even close family members, and explore all of their humanness, from their worst flaws to their greatest generosity, and puts them in the context of their time and place. It is not an easy history, but it is a rich, entertaining, sad, funny, lively, and, yes, heartbreaking history. It is also a history of a woman who can speak to we sheltered Americans as an American and really bring it close to us.

Empathy is everything as we look at Syria today, absolutely everything. And this book breaks through the constant attempts to understand the history of Syria as a different place in a different region to help us realize we are all "balcony friends". I would heartily recommend this book to any reader, but would particularly recommend it for a class in high school or college that needs to drive many of the abstractions we learn about the whole Middle East home and help the students gain more empathy.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Arthur Wenk

The Syria That Was

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

Alia Malek, using the reconstruction of her grandmother’s home as a framework, offers an introduction to Syria, not only its political history but also its social organization. The reader marvels along with the author at her reacquaintance with an enormous extended family. One feels like a bystander reading vivid evocations of a social network embracing neighbors of differing faiths. And one feels outrage at the deliberate destruction of such a caring community. Malek’s peculiar blend of citizenships has allowed her both the intimacy of access and the perspective of detachment. This is a beautiful book.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Georges

and can honestly say I have enjoyed every single page of it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2017

Verified Purchase

I came across Alia by pure coincidence, and my first read of hers was "A Country Called Amreeka"; as an expatriate Middle Eastern living in Europe, I totally identified with each and every person she wrote about, and the ignorance that sometimes we have to suffer from others because they cannot understand that there is diversity and multitude in every part of the world...
I waited impatiently for the release of "The Home That Was Our Country", and can honestly say I have enjoyed every single page of it... Alia wrote it for everyone, whether an Arab (Syrian or not) or a Westerner, you will be able to understand the book and live the lives of the people depicted in the book;
As I have been to many of the places in her book, the accuracy of Alia's descriptions transported me back there and if I close my eyes I could feel myself walking in those streets and visiting those cities... What's happening in Syria, and its repercussions on the rest of the region, is very sad.. However, I felt deeply grateful for Alia for she gave me a glimpse of hope, although a tiny one, that a day will come when we will live again like AbdelJawwad and his family did....

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

If you just feel like getting lost in a good book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

If you are Syrian and feeling isolated and desperate from watching the news, this book will lift your spirits and remind you that you are not alone. If you are not Syrian, and want to understand how Syria ended up in such a mess, this book will walk you through Syria's past and present. If you just feel like getting lost in a good book, this family story will capture you. I cannot recommend this book enough. Buy it, and I promise you will enjoy it thoroughly!

One person found this helpful

See all reviews

Buy new:

$7.99

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

Similar authors to follow

The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria Hardcover – February 28, 2017

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Customers who bought this item also bought

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Customer reviews

Customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new: $7.99

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

Similar authors to follow

The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria Hardcover – February 28, 2017

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Customers who bought this item also bought

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Customer reviews

Customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$7.99