The Map of Salt and Stars
Written by Zeyn Joukhadar
Narrated by Lara Sawalha
4/5
()
About this audiobook
This “beguiling” (Seattle Times) and stunning novel begins in the summer of 2011. Nour has just lost her father to cancer, and her mother moves Nour and her sisters from New York City back to Syria to be closer to their family. In order to keep her father’s spirit alive as she adjusts to her new home, Nour tells herself their favorite story—the tale of Rawiya, a twelfth-century girl who disguised herself as a boy in order to apprentice herself to a famous mapmaker.
But the Syria Nour’s parents knew is changing, and it isn’t long before the war reaches their quiet Homs neighborhood. When a shell destroys Nour’s house and almost takes her life, she and her family are forced to choose: stay and risk more violence or flee across seven countries of the Middle East and North Africa in search of safety—along the very route Rawiya and her mapmaker took eight hundred years before in their quest to chart the world. As Nour’s family decides to take the risk, their journey becomes more and more dangerous, until they face a choice that could mean the family will be separated forever.
Following alternating timelines and a pair of unforgettable heroines coming of age in perilous times, The Map of Salt and Stars is the “magical and heart-wrenching” (Christian Science Monitor) story of one girl telling herself the legend of another and learning that, if you listen to your own voice, some things can never be lost.
Zeyn Joukhadar
Zeyn Joukhadar is the author of The Map of Salt and Stars and The Thirty Names of Night. He is a member of the Radius of Arab American Writers (RAWI) and of American Mensa. Joukhadar’s writing has appeared in Salon, The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net. The Map of Salt and Stars was a 2018 Middle East Book Award winner in Youth Literature, a 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist in Historical Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. He has received fellowships from the Montalvo Arts Center, the Arab American National Museum, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Camargo Foundation, and the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation.
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Reviews for The Map of Salt and Stars
404 ratings33 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Such lyrical writing and the blending of the two stories artfully done. The human heart knows no borders.
4 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Such vivid imagery. Loved the different voices the narrator does. Such a beautiful portrayl of the middle East. Beautiful, lyrical, authentic and heartbreaking.
3 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It’s a nice weekend read, felt engaged the whole way through.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A well written, beautifully narrated book which kept my attention throughout. I look forward to reading more books from this author.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It is a good book and it gives you a good feel for how it can be for other people. Good read and it was for sure worth my time! However it's not my favourite, the emotions in this book are so deep and piercing then there where moments that there where tears in my eyes. I felt for the characters, and all I was wishing for was their struggle to end....
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Poetry was lovely. Book was full of hardships making it hard to want to read on.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5the imagery, the passion and pain...immaculate. I yearn to read more from this wonderful author
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Super well written and interesting. Loved the two stories and how they interconnected!! Highly recommend
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The story is fine, it addresses important issues. It is nostalgic and has some beautiful passages. BUT it is too long. Sometimes my mind just wondered.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great insight into Syria. The reader also was good to listen too.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It’s such a beautiful story told by such a skillful narrator.
I traveled with the characters so easily, through time and space.
The story is rich with sounds, smells, touches and most vigorous scenes one can clearly see.
❤️ - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The story is beautiful but the narration is sooo slow. Listen at 1.5x
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It was good but not great. A little more drawn out than I cared for.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I struggled with this book. I felt something was missing... Like all is no neatly arranged , but somehow it is missing an important piece.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is masterful storytelling with such beautiful and complex characters.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In this beautifully written literary fiction, Nour, a girl of Syrian-American heritage, must relocate with her mother and two sisters to Syria after her father’s death. Upon settling into a new home in Syria, civil war breaks out. They begin a journey across the Middle East and North Africa in search of safe-haven. Nour’s father had often repeated a story to her, an ancient fable of a heroic girl and a mapmaker. This mystical story is interwoven into the primary narrative in alternating segments. I very much enjoyed the two intertwined stories, set hundreds of years apart, especially the way they parallel each other in geographic location as well as action sequences. Both stories contain mapmakers and strong young female protagonists that masquerade as boys. Both contain journeys, villains, and danger. The older mythical story sets the historic context for the contemporary story.
The author vividly portrays the various cultures of the region. Small portions of the story slip into the realm of magical realism in a way that adds to rather than detracts from the narrative. This novel brings the Syrian refugee crisis into sharp focus, and vividly conveys the impact on families, especially women and children. While the pacing seemed uneven in a few places, I found it extremely imaginative, lyrically written, and well-crafted.
Filled with visions of home, courage, and hope, the ancient and contemporary stories converge in a meaningful way at the end. This is a debut novel and I look forward to reading future works from this author. Highly recommended to readers of historical or literary fiction, or those interested in narratives featuring strong women, diverse cultures, or Syrian heritage. - Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5A parallel story of Nour's family who moves from the U.S. back to Syria after her father dies, and Rawiya's tale which is a story from medieval times that Nour's father told her. Nour has synesthesia which means that she sees and hears the world in colors. I thought this resulted in prose that was overblown and bogged down the story. The two stories didn't really seem related except through Nour's memory. Very few in book club actually finished this book and even fewer liked it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What an amazing read. I wish everyone would read this and find compassion for refugees.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a slow burn of a novel where a tragic refugee story is interwoven with a mythical tale. It was hard to connect the two for a long time (I won't say more, to avoid spoilers). The story and characters are compelling, though the writing is a bit burdened by the prose--the protagonist has synesthesia, so the author relies heavily on description, and LOTS of it. This is worth the read, overall, especially when we're talking about the consequences of war on innocent people.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This novel is the story of 12-year-old Nour, who grows up in Manhattan, but after the death of her father, her mother takes the family back to their native Syria. Nour find herself an outsider, unable to speak Arabic. Unfortunately, their move to Syria coincides with a time of increasing protests that grow into the Arab Spring and then the Syrian Civil War. Nour and her family become refugees crossing the Middle East and North Africa.Throughout the novel, Nour tells herself her father's story of Rawiya, a girl from hundreds of years earlier, who disguised herself as a boy and has adventures traveling around the Meditteranean. The two stories interweave through the novel, intersecting in the similarities of the two protagonists.The novel is a good story and in Nour and Rawiya has two characters that readers can identify. It's a good introduction for young adult readers (and old adults like me) to the issues of contemporary Syria from the perspective of a child.
Rating: ***1/2 - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a physically and narratively beautiful book. With maps inside the covers, chapters marked by a shaped poem for each country the family visits, and a secret "message" hidden beneath the title, the book itself contributes to the story. Mostly it comes from the view point of Nour, a young 12 year old who has recently lost her father to cancer. Her mother, a creative mapmaker is bereft and lost in their adopted home of NYC, so she moves her daughters Nour, Zahra, and Huda back to Syria to be near family. It is 2011. To say that this is ill-timed is an understatement. Within months of their return, their family home is bombed and they become refugees. Their plight is harrowing, but Nour's understanding is a bit naive and she also filters things differently - she is a synthesthete, seeing the world in colors and emotions rather than stark reality. This gives her a small layer of protection. Her other "secret weapon" is the folk tale she shared with her father of Rawiya, a young girl in ancient times who seeks adventure and knowledge and is brave beyond compare, posing as a young boy so she can become an apprentice mapmaker. Her odyssey takes her around the ancient world, encountering mythical creatures and evil empires, but she triumphs just like Nour must. While her family faces every possible obstacle refugees might (corrupt border crossings/coyotes, a boat that sinks, being shelled by enemy gunfire, illness and injury) Nour follows her mother's map to "home." The child narrator works here as does the weaving of past fable and present reality to fully represent a culture, history and current global issue.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While well-at times beautifully-written, notably map and astronomy descriptions,the opening premise of the mother deciding to leave New York City without throughly firstresearching the safety of war-torn Syria for her family, doesn't ring true.Moving past that, the interweaving of the fascinating myth of Rawiya with the brutal reality of Nour's new life brings a deep understanding of the history and geography of Syria.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enter a world seen through the eyes, memories, and stories of an adolescent girl who is removed from a world she knows in NYC into a world only imagined through others in Syria. The author leads us through parallel journeys of Nour and Rawiya. Their thoughts, challenges, and ability to survive under unimaginable hardships as they travel through similar geographic settings, but with vastly different circumstances. I appreciated how both stories were woven together and gave a sense of the history of the region. This story educated me on a part of the world I know little of their history or culture. Zeyn's storytelling, descriptions, and research weaved a story that captivated me, changed my perceptions, and made me realize how culture is shaped. I loved the character's descriptions of faith, the importance of family, and trust in relationships and how it got them through tough times. I enjoyed following Noir and Rawiya on their journey. This is a story that will stick with me for a long time.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beautiful, lyrically written parallel stories of a family's harrowing journey across the Middle East, which mirrors the journey of an ancient map maker and his young apprentices. Heavily infused with magical realism and almost crushing emotion, the story will overwhelm you but keep you turning pages. The writing is sophisticated, so you forget that the first person narration is coming from an 11-year old, until she does something or reacts in a way that could only come from a child. At the same time, the historical part of the story reads like a factual historical account, until something mystical happens. In both these ways the reader is constantly being pushed and pulled into different perceptions and understands of the reality the book creates. The young narrator is also a synesthete, which adds a depth of understanding to the character's physical context as well as her emotional connections to her family. The author herself is also a synesthete, so the reader can be confident that this is a real depiction of the way someone with synethesia understands the world.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It took me quite some time to totally become engrossed in A Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Joukhadar but once I did, this became a book that I couldn’t put down. There are two plot lines to follow in this book, one about a contemporary girl called Nour whose mother moves the family back to Syria from America after the death of her father. All too soon bombs are dropping on their city and their house is destroyed and the family is suddenly homeless, searching for a safe place. Nour comforts herself by remembering a story that her father used to tell her and this story becomes the second narrative. This story is about a girl called Rawiya in the twelfth century who disguises herself as a boy and becomes apprenticed to a mapmaker charting trade routes.Nour’s and Rawiya’s stories become entwined as both girls travelled very similar trails through Jordan, Egypt, Libya and Algeria. Nour also disguises herself as a boy for safety’s sake, and both girls face cold, hunger and frequent bureaucracy. While Rawiya’s story is more of an adventure, Nour’s is the harrowing story of a refugee. The Map of Salt and Stars is a remarkable debut novel. This coming of age story is enhanced by Nour’s synesthesia which brings an added richness to the descriptions. While both girls have to make hard choices and sacrifices, I was much more invested in the contemporary story but I do wish that the book had included a map that showed exactly where these girls travelled.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I carried our memoires all this way, the story of what happened to us. It was heavy on my shoulders this whole time, but I didn’t fall down.Joukhadar uses dual story lines and two young heroines to tell this story of family, loss, perseverance, grief, love and success. Nour’s story takes place in 2011; she has returned to Syria from Manhattan with her mother and sisters, after her father’s death. But it is not the safe haven her mother expected, because war is tearing the country apart. Rawiya, is a 12th-century girl who, legend has it, disguised herself as a boy to travel with renowned mapmaker al-Idrisi. Her story is the favorite one of Nour’s father’s tales and Nour recites it to herself as a way of keeping her father close. But there are parallels to the girls’ journeys, one as she explores new lands, the other as she flees across many countries to find safety once again.I liked both Nour and Rawiya, and loved some of the supporting characters. Both girls must navigate through harsh territory and face numerous dangers from both the environment and the people they encounter. Both sometimes rely on being disguised or taken for a boy. Both find an unlikely champion / savior on more than one occasion. I was a little suspicious at first about Abu Sayeed, but came to love him and the gentle way he helped and protected Nour and her family. Like Nour, I relaxed in the safety he provided: I am covered with a thick rind of safety, like an orange.I did find myself more drawn to Nour’s modern-day story, probably because I’m less inclined towards “fairytales” at this stage of my life. Dual timelines seems to be all the rage in novels these days, as well as dual narrators. But it’s a difficult style to pull off well. Joukhadar is a talented writer, but I felt tossed back and forth, getting invested in one story only to be yanked across centuries to a completely different scenario when I turned the page. I enjoyed the legendary tale but would have preferred to read a book that was set entirely in the present. Still, Joukhadar gave me a compelling read with well-drawn characters and some interesting parallels. I also rather liked the opening of each part of the novel, where the author gave us a passage from a seemingly ancient text, printed, in each case, in the outline of that country. I checked the author notes but didn’t find any specific citation, so I assume that Joukhadar wrote these passages, rather than quote them. Though they fascinated me, they represented yet another style / storyline to try to get straight within the context of the entire book. At one point Nour reflects on a scar left on her leg: Life draws blood and leaves its jewelry in our skin. This novel doesn’t draw any blood, but will definitely leave its mark on the reader.NOTE: Author is a transgender male. The book was originally published with the author listed as Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar. But the author now goes by Zeyn Joukhabar.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A beautiful story about family and survival in Syria. The perspective of a personal or intimate journey of survival and expierance of doing anything it takes to stay together and ssurvie as a family.
Quotes and Snippets
Part 6: It used to make me wonder if the really important things we used to see in god are in each other
I wonder if almost can cost you as much as did. If the real wound is the moment you can understand you can do nothing.
Part 12: a person can be two things at the same time. The land where your parents where born will always be in you. Words survive. Borders are nothing to words and blood.
Colors used as descriptions for shapes and emotions. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nour, a twelve-year-old Syrian-American girl, her two teenaged sisters, and their recently widowed mother, a mapmaker, have returned to Homs, Syria, after more than a decade living in New York City. Unfortunately, the Syrian civil war begins and quickly envelops them. Their house is shelled, and they are forced to become refugees, fleeing Syria.Their flight out of Syria and across revolution-torn north Africa parallels the path taken by the 12th-century north African mapmaker, al-Idrisi. All her life, Nour’s parents have told her stories of this famous geographer. The legends of his journeys are brought to life in the novel by a young girl disguised as a boy, Rawiya, who accompanies al-Idrisi and his entourage on their long trek. These stories and histories, along with the memories of her happy childhood in New York and her beloved father, help to sustain Nour in the family’s harrowing, and (to Nour), bewildering flight to safety.Beautifully written and highly recommended.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I had such high hopes for this book but ended up having a hard time connecting with this book. I felt as if the characters never truly developed and the story in a story was more of a distraction.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The structure of this novel intertwines a refashioning of "1001 Arabian Nights" type stories with the saga of a family fleeing political violence. The result is an engaging story that helps you rethink the notions of immigration, refugees, diasporic wandering, and home. (Brian)