The Map of Salt and Stars in Around the Year in 52 Books

Jul 31, 2019 Book Concierge rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, travel, sisters, fairy-tale, library, social-commentary, concierge, strong-women, syria

I carried our memoires all this way, the story of what happened to us. It was heavy on my shoulders this whole time, but I didn’t fall down.

Joukhadar uses dual story lines and two young heroines to tell this story of family, loss, perseverance, grief, love and success. Nour’s story takes place in 2011; she has returned to Syria from Manhattan with her mother and sisters, after her father’s death. But it is not the safe haven her mother expected, because war is tearing the country apart. Rawiya, I carried our memoires all this way, the story of what happened to us. It was heavy on my shoulders this whole time, but I didn’t fall down.

Joukhadar uses dual story lines and two young heroines to tell this story of family, loss, perseverance, grief, love and success. Nour’s story takes place in 2011; she has returned to Syria from Manhattan with her mother and sisters, after her father’s death. But it is not the safe haven her mother expected, because war is tearing the country apart. Rawiya, is a 12th-century girl who, legend has it, disguised herself as a boy to travel with renowned mapmaker al-Idrisi. Her story is the favorite one of Nour’s father’s tales and Nour recites it to herself as a way of keeping her father close. But there are parallels to the girls’ journeys, one as she explores new lands, the other as she flees across many countries to find safety once again.

I liked both Nour and Rawiya, and loved some of the supporting characters. Both girls must navigate through harsh territory and face numerous dangers from both the environment and the people they encounter. Both sometimes rely on being disguised or taken for a boy. Both find an unlikely champion / savior on more than one occasion. I was a little suspicious at first about Abu Sayeed, but came to love him and the gentle way he helped and protected Nour and her family. Like Nour, I relaxed in the safety he provided: I am covered with a thick rind of safety, like an orange.

I did find myself more drawn to Nour’s modern-day story, probably because I’m less inclined towards “fairytales” at this stage of my life. Dual timelines seems to be all the rage in novels these days, as well as dual narrators. But it’s a difficult style to pull off well. Joukhadar is a talented writer, but I felt tossed back and forth, getting invested in one story only to be yanked across centuries to a completely different scenario when I turned the page. I enjoyed the legendary tale but would have preferred to read a book that was set entirely in the present.

Still, Joukhadar gave me a compelling read with well-drawn characters and some interesting parallels. I also rather liked the opening of each part of the novel, where the author gave us a passage from a seemingly ancient text, printed, in each case, in the outline of that country. I checked the author notes but didn’t find any specific citation, so I assume that Joukhadar wrote these passages, rather than quote them. Though they fascinated me, they represented yet another style / storyline to try to get straight within the context of the entire book.

At one point Nour reflects on a scar left on her leg: Life draws blood and leaves its jewelry in our skin. This novel doesn’t draw any blood, but will definitely leave its mark on the reader.

NOTE: Author is a transgender male. The book was originally published with the author listed as Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar.
...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Jul 20, 2020 Jen K rated it really liked it

Two stories told of long journeys along the Mediterranean Sea in a lush lyrical voice. Nour is 12 years old, born and raised in NYC but recently repatriated to Syria with her mother and 2 older sisters after her father passes away. Unfortunately soon after their arrival in Syria, their home is bombed in violence overtaking Syria forcing the family to flee in search of a refuge. Their journey takes them across North Africa facing unimaginable difficulties and abuse as refugees fleeing with the cl ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 13, 2018 Penny rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018

Another 4.5. A wonderful book recounting two parallel journeys 900 years apart. One, of a refugee family recently returned to Homs after the death of their father. And we all know what happened in Homs. This leads to another journey to try to find safety, mirroring, more or less, the earlier journey in the book, that of Muhammed Al Idrisi, mapmaker and geographer, who completed many of the best maps of the time, for King Roger of Palermo (Sicily). While the contemporary story is completely reali ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 04, 2021 Sara rated it liked it · review of another edition

While I listened to this as an audiobook (which may have been part of the trouble) following the duel time-lines was difficult.

Like · see review

Oct 18, 2021 Frances C. rated it liked it

It seemed to drag along at some points. I was listening to the audio book, and that made it a little difficult to keep track of the characters in the dual timeline.

Like · see review