By
Deborah Campbell
Picdor,
2017. 341 pgs. Nonfiction
Deborah
Campbell has won awards for her writing focusing on situations in various countries. Traveling to Damascus, Syria, to cover the
stories of Iraqi refugees who fled there, she hires an Iraqi woman named Ahlam
as her “fixer,” the person who helps connect her to locals and give her on the ground
help with her story. Ahlam is deeply involved with the refugees in the “Little
Baghdad” area of Damascus and is passionate about helping them. She starts a school for girls in her
apartment, maintains connections with Americans she has translated for in the
past and other journalists she has helped.
Then one day she is arrested and disappears. Campbell is extremely concerned and worried
that Ahlam’s work for her has compromised Ahlam’s safety. Ahlam is no longer
just her “fixer” but a good friend and Campbell is determined to find out what
happened to her.
Seeing
Damascus and the situation there in 2007 through Campbell’s eyes is very
informative and interesting. Syria had
not yet plummeted into civil war though everyone was jittery because of the
influx of refugees from Iraq. Her
insight into the background of the situation there and her “immersive” view is
full of insight and also intrigue and adventure. Her relationship to Ahlam and the friendship
they develop enhances the emotional pull of her reporting. SH
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