The Color of Mourning

In Dempster’s novel, a young Syrian woman and her family feel the oppression of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and when war erupts, it sends their lives into further turmoil.

Eighteen-year-old Layal Wassef and her mother, Nooda; her brother, Tarek; and her father, Jorem, live in Raqqa, Syria, in the early 2010s. Layal is preparing to leave to attend university in England, and Tarek is preparing to study in Jordan. But one night, soldiers come looking for Tarek while he’s at a meeting of the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group. When they can’t find him, they arrest Jorem, and the family’s lives are thrown into chaos. Soon, the rebels take Raqqa, but eventually, the authoritarian Islamic State group takes over. Layal and her journalist mother lose their independence under strict new laws, and they witness horrors when someone is accused of going against the caliphate. Layal endures traumas and dreams of escape, but she’s unsure of how to get out of the heavily guarded city. After a tragedy, the mother and daughter must decide whether to risk death while escaping or to face a likely demise at home. Dempster’s story is fast-paced and brings the gruesome realities of war to life. The author notes that she lived in Iran as a teenager and that she’s since traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, and her fictional tale has an authoritative feel. Many readers will gain a better understanding of the different groups involved in the conflict and what it was like to be a woman under oppressive regimes. The book is a delicate, well-judged balance of dialogue and description as it presents the points of view of both Layal and Nooda. It’s an often chilling and eye-opening work that should be widely read, especially by citizens of countries involved in the Syrian Civil War.

An affecting novel of oppression and liberation.