The Broken Wings by Kahill Gibran -- Starting April 24th 2025

[Jenn]

A tender tale set in Beirut tells of first love between a youth and a young girl named Selma, who is promised in marriage to another man

[Dannii]

Making a start on this :)

[Dannii]

The Hand of Destiny - (view spoiler)[Woe, this had such a sad start. Learning of his love and then the loss of her ruined me a little, and I was only 1 page into this! (hide spoiler)]

[Dannii]

The Tempest - (view spoiler)[The reader becomes privy to the author's meeting with Selma and although this is written in a straight forward manner there is so much emotion and beautiful lines littered throughout it that I feel transfixed by the story. I can feel his love emanating off the page. (hide spoiler)]

[Dannii]

Between Christ and Ishtar - (view spoiler)[They might have known each other for such a short period but their feelings were true and the depictions each had of living life without the other broke me! I'm not religious but felt moved when they spoke lines such as 'Oh, Lord God, have mercy on me and mend my broken wings.'

Chapter 7 saw a jump in time and gave the reader an insight to life outside of the romance this is primarily focusing on, which only served to make it feel even more real and sorrowful. I loved that they got to meet again but unfortunately it wasn't under good circumstances.

I wasn't anticipating their secret meetings in Chapter 8 but can't say I was mad at it. It was still tinged with sorrow as they couldn't openly be together. (hide spoiler)]

[Dannii]

The Rescuer - (view spoiler)[Oh how I wished that Selma had agreed to flee! Another time jump followed this and after five years Selma gave birth to a boy, who died moments later. Her husband cared little and there was no conclusion to the tale, which left me feeling hollow and angry, but in a good way!

This entire book has been nothing but sorrow and it was oddly beautiful for it. It also gave an insight to Eastern Mediterranean issues, as well as being a tragically romantic tale. (hide spoiler)]