The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

No Land to Light On

January 17, 2022

land

No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib
Published by Atria Books
Publication date: January 4, 2022
Genres: Book Clubs, Fiction, Contemporary, Cultural, Literary
four-stars
Your Local Book Store, Amazon

Despite being five months pregnant Sama goes to the airport to surprise her husband, Hadi, on his return from his father’s funeral. Only to be met by a large crowd of angry people, with signs, yelling. She can’t enter the building so tries calling him. Amidst the noise, they only speak long enough for Hadi to tell her they won’t let him out, that his passport has been taken away. The call disconnects, someone pushes Sama to the ground, and she goes into labor. This chaotic, frightening scene is the opening of Yara Zgheib’s new novel, No Land to Light On.

The airport is Logan, the day is January 27, 2017, the first day of the former president’s Muslim travel ban, and both Sama and Hadi are Syrian. Hadi was a political prisoner in Syria and has a refugee visa. Both are here legally, but it doesn’t matter. As Sama is taken to a hospital Hadi is informed that his status has been revoked and he will be immediately deported. While Sama gives birth to their son by emergency C-section, he is sent back to Jordan, where his flight originated. He has a month to land somewhere else before he’ll be sent back to Syria and certain arrest.

From the opening pages of No Land, Zgheib immerses the reader in a nightmarish world. A strong imagination is not needed to feel the terror, the frantic helplessness, the despair, because she lays it out on the page. Sama is alone, without any family, in a hospital with a baby on the very edge of surviving. Hadi is on the other side of the world with no luggage, a cell phone, and an almost maxed out credit card. What was supposed to be a time of united joy is now a situation of separation fraught with pain and uncertainty.

Zgheib uses Sama’s studies in America as a counterpoint to this painful intensity. Seven years ago she came to Harvard to study anthropology and specifically avian migration patterns. Zgheib ties her research into humans, what happens when their patterns are disrupted. Specifically, birds that migrate over the Middle East and North Africa whose numbers are being decimated by war, poaching, and the destruction of their natural habitat.

These few brief notes iin No Land provide an aching parallel to the human population, not only in those regions, but around the globe. The planet suffers when the seeds these birds would naturally disperse cease. It’s a painful metaphor for where we stand now. My feelings about the previous presidential administration are no secret, but as someone who was not impacted by the majority of his inhumane, ineffectual, dangerous policies this novel packs a brutal emotional punch. Maybe because it is so likely based on the truth.

 

 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).

 

*I received a free copy of this book from Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.*

 

four-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 4 Star Books
horses
The Year of the Horses: A Memoir
well tempered heart
A Well-Tempered Heart
And Sons
& Sons: A Novel
trees
The Trees by Percival Everett
ocean end of lane
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932
Housebreaking: A Novel
dark lies
Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison
Little Known Facts
Little Known Facts
All the Broken Places
Creepy December
The Morels
The Morels
You Will Know Me
empty glass
The Empty Glass
from scratch
From Scratch: Inside the Food Network

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, debut, literary

Comments

  1. Susan says

    January 19, 2022 at 9:40 am

    Another pain-filled one — you’ll need a break! It sounds like a compelling story. I need to pace myself on the intense ones.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      January 22, 2022 at 2:27 pm

      Yes. Rookie error on my part. I binged watched Netflix for a bit to get over it.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Indiebound and Amazon. If you click on a link that takes you to any of these sites and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2023

Copyright © 2023 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in