Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The extraordinary story of one refugee's quest to find a new life in the midst of one the most pressing international crises of our time.
Adrift in a frigid sea, no land in sight. Just debris from the ship's wreckage and bloated, floating corpses all around. Doaa Zamel floats with an inflatable ring around her waist while two children cling to her neck. The babies had been thrust into her arms by their drowning parents, all refugees from Syria who boarded a dangerously overcrowded ship from Egypt bound for Sweden and a new life. Doaa must stay alive for these children. She must not lose strength. She must not lose hope.
Doaa was once an average Syrian girl, but in 2011 her life was upended by the civil uprising against their government's oppressive regime. Doaa and her family first flee to Egypt after their hometown is invaded by the army, but as Egypt grows unstable and life for Syrians becomes more dangerous there, Doaa and her new fiance decide to book passage on a smuggler's ship bound for Europe. After four horrifying days at sea on a rickety ship, Doaa's boat is rammed, and she and the other 500 passengers on board are left to drown. This is where Doaa's struggle for survival really begins.
In the midst of an international refugee crisis and as the debate continues around the U.S. travel ban, UNHCR's Melissa Fleming's A HOPE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE SEA sets the stage for this pressing political conflict through the incredible story of one young refugee and the triumph of the human spirit.
Synopsis
Urgently required reading. --People
Deeply affecting... Fleming brings a moral urgency to the narrative. --The New Yorker
Fleming deftly illustrates the pain of those who choose to leave Syria...and her book is ultimately a story of hope. --Newsweek
The stunning story of a young woman, an international crisis, and the triumph of the human spirit.
Adrift in a frigid sea, no land in sight--just debris from the ship's wreckage and floating corpses all around--nineteen-year-old Doaa Al Zamel floats with a small inflatable water ring around her waist and clutches two children, barely toddlers, to her body. The children had been thrust into Doaa's arms by their drowning relatives, all refugees who boarded a dangerously overcrowded ship bound for Sweden and a new life. For days, Doaa floats, prays, and sings to the babies in her arms. She must stay alive for these children. She must not lose hope.
Doaa Al Zamel was once an average Syrian girl growing up in a crowded house in a bustling city near the Jordanian border. But in 2011, her life was upended. Inspired by the events of the Arab Spring, Syrians began to stand up against their own oppressive regime. When the army was sent to take control of Doaa's hometown, strict curfews, power outages, water shortages, air raids, and violence disrupted everyday life. After Doaa's father's barbershop was destroyed and rumors of women being abducted spread through the community, her family decided to leave Syria for Egypt, where they hoped to stay in peace until they could return home. Only months after their arrival, the Egyptian government was overthrown and the environment turned hostile for refugees.
In the midst of this chaos, Doaa falls in love with a young opposition fighter who proposes marriage and convinces her to flee to the promise of safety and a better future in Europe. Terrified and unable to swim, Doaa and her young fiance hand their life savings to smugglers and board a dilapidated fishing vessel with five hundred other refugees, including a hundred children. After four horrifying days at sea, another ship, filled with angry men shouting insults, rams into Doaa's boat, sinking it and leaving the passengers to drown.
That is where Doaa's struggle for survival really begins.
A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea is an emotionally charged, eye-opening true story that represents the millions of unheard voices of refugees who risk everything in a desperate search for the promise of a safe future. Melissa Fleming sheds light on the most pressing humanitarian crisis of our time and paints a vivid, unforgettable portrait of the triumph of the human spirit.