Where the Wind Calls Home

Ali is nineteen and a soldier in the Syrian army. He lies on the ground beneath a tree after an explosion, and he watches a body being lowered into a hole. He cannot tell whether it is his own funeral.

Dazed, he tries to work out how badly he is hurt and drags himself closer to the tree. What he wants most is to rise into its branches, where he would be safe. The bombing hit his patrol station in the Lattakia mountains in 2013, during the Syrian civil war.

As he lies there, memories return to him in short, vivid scenes. They lead back to his Alawite village, a traditional place with hard living conditions and a rich cultural and religious heritage.

The novel is slim and poetic in style. Through Ali's recollections, the author draws on the secrets of the Alawite faith and its ties to nature and the elements. The book was a 2024 National Book Award finalist. Its pages move between a wounded body on the ground and a village full of life, hope and love.