BOOKS
Sophia
Rafik Schami, translated by Monique Arav and John Hannon (Interlink Books, ISBN 9781566560313) interlink.com
The roots of Rafik Schami’s latest novel lie in events in his own life. In 2010, having lived in exile in Germany for decades, this Syrian-born author received an unexpected invitation from the Damascus regime to return home. His agonizing over this duplicitous offer led him to write Sophia, a vast, sweeping family saga of great ambition and humanity.
Spanning the mid-20th century and the first decade of the 21st, the novel tackles head on the themes of fidelity and salvation. In the
