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 unex-
pected 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 1950s Karim
is sent by his family from
Homs to Damascus, tasked
with the ‘honour killing’ of his
sister for the ‘crime’ of mar-
rying outside her faith. Karim‘Heaven’ is a Bangalore slum,
home to five intrepid teenage
girls facing the destruction of
their homes by city govern-
ment bulldozers. Banu, Deepa,
Joy, Padma and Rukshana
have different backgrounds
and different dreams, but they
are steadfast in their com-
mitment to each other and to
their community. Encouraged
by their formidable headmis-
tress, Janaki Ma’am, they push
back against the limitations
of their traditional place in
society and learn the impor-
tance of pulling together,
regardless of differences in
caste, religion, sexual orienta-
tion or (dis)ability, in order to
secure their future.
A People’s History of
Heaven is a novel with a filmicinstead warns his sister to
flee but she is killed and he is
framed for her murder. He is
saved from prison by Sophia,
a well-connected Christian
woman who was Karim’s
first love, and he vows he will
some day repay the debt.
Many years later, Sophia’s son
Salman returns to Syria after
40 years of exile in Italy on
the promise of amnesty. He
is betrayed and forced to go
on the run in Damascus. In
desperation, Sophia calls for
Karim to honour his debt and
save her son from arrest and
execution.
In outline the plot reads
like a soap opera but Schami’s
faultless handling of his multi-
ple timelines, his rich charac-
terization, and his big-hearted
storytelling lift this novel far
above the ordinary. At once a
page-turning thriller, an illu-
minating insight into Syrian
society and politics, and an
all-encompassing tale of
loyalty and treachery, Sophia
is a novel of great scope and
depth from a consummate
writer. PWquality, the descriptions of the
characters and their home so
colourful and compelling that
images of them formed effort-
lessly in this reader’s mind.
Sight and visibility are key
to the story (one of the girls,
Deepa, is visually impaired).
The community, made up
almost entirely of women, is
invisible to many: the police,
the state, the city government.
Rich neighbours and foreign-
ers see the slum-dwellers,
but misinterpret what they
see, often to their own advan-
tage. A foreign photographer,
for example, seeks out the
misery of the slum, ignoring
the inhabitants’ resourceful-
ness, humour and strength, in
order to sell her pictures to the
international media. It is one
thing to see, quite another to
understand.
Brimming with warmth
and good humour, this uplift-
ing novel nevertheless quietly
raises issues of equality and
human rights, as well as
underlining the importance
of not making assumptions
about the lives of others. A
book to savour and to make
you smile. JLSophia
Rafik Schami, translated by Monique Arav and John Hannon
(Interlink Books, ISBN 9781566560313)
interlink.com
+++++A People’s History of Heaven
by Mathangi Subramanian
(One World, ISBN 9781786076762)
oneworld-publications.com
++++,BOOKS
MIXED MEDIA76 NEW INTERNATIONALIST