A memoir of personal rebellion and political awakening from a young woman raised to be loyal to a brutal regime—and the unimaginable cost of choosing freedom.
Candid and absorbing ... Her self-portrait isn’t always flattering ... The memoir’s descriptions of prisoner abuse are horrifying, if no longer novel ... Mrie’s descriptions of her lost country are imbued with nostalgia.
Mrie uses an exceptional eye for detail to evoke her surroundings, whether it be the peaceful Syrian countryside of her childhood or the carnage-filled chaos of rebel-held villages under bombardment. But the most remarkable aspect of Mrie’s memoir is her unflinching honesty as she details how trauma and guilt led to her struggles with impulsive behavior and an addiction to alcohol.
