Book Review: “Sister of Saidnaya; A Syrian Immigrant’s Tale;” By Rose Ann Kalister

 

The Blogger’s personal note:

 When I read the name of the sender of one email, my first thought was “this must be a spam.” The name was Rose Ann Kalister and I have never heard of this person before. I usually delete all suspicious emails before opening them. Not this time. And I am glad I didn’t delete it.

 

What triggered my interest was the subject of the email which was “Release of my novel.” I thought: “a novelist sending me an email? It must be good.”

 The email said:

“Dear Friends: Introducing my novel, Sister of Saidnaya, a Syrian Immigrant’s Tale, and my website.

All my best.”

 

Oh! This is definitely not a spam. A book about Saidnaya by an American writer? This is exciting. I still don’t remember ever meeting the author, though. I went to her website and found out that she is a first generation Syrian American from West Virginia.

 

And after further research, I found out that her parents were among the first wave of immigrants to come from Saidnaya to America and they settled in Parkersburg, WV. Her father’s last name was Ellem (علّام).

 

Throughout my stay in America, I was fortunate to meet a lot of Saidnaya descendants, especially during Saidnaya reunions. I remember meeting many of the saidnayans who live in Parkersburg or have relatives who are living there. I have fond memories with all of them, but I don’t remember meeting this author.

 

I don’t know what drove me immediately toward Amazon website to order the book. It could be the saidnayan in me who wanted to know how the first generation of Saidnayan immigrants lived in this country, and the difficulties they had to go through to survive and thrive. Or maybe, simply, I wanted to support an author, whose family originated in my small town in Syria, trying to make a name for herself as a novelist in this country. While this is her first attempt at novel writing, she is a well-known playwriter and had received few awards for her plays.

 

I couldn’t wait until the book arrived and I sank my teeth in it. I spent few wonderful days immersing myself in the life of an Arab woman from my village, who lived in West Virginia during the first half of the twentieth century.

 

“Sister of Saidnaya; A Syrian Immigrant’s Tale”

 The book depicts a vivid picture of a Saidnayans community during the period between 1922 and 1956. This was one of the worst times for Syrian immigrants. A Congress Act in 1924 virtually stopped any new arrivals from the Arab world for the next 4 decades and left those who are in the USA completely cut off from the old country. 

 

The story is about Nadra, a twelve-year-old girl who came with her family from Saidnaya in 1922 to start a new life in the USA. Nadra had big dreams and hopes for the future. America was the land of opportunities and freedom. But it wasn’t long before Nadra discovered that reality didn’t match her expectation.

 

Growing in a very enclosed community of Saidnayans, Nadra had to succumb to the same old traditions that she thought she left behind in Syria. She saw her dreams and hopes being crushed one after another.

 

But having the strong personality that characterizes the people of Saidnaya, she persevered. She concentrated on raising her Children the best way she could and providing them, especially her daughter, with the best opportunities to achieve their dreams and by doing so, Nadra was compensating somewhat for her failure in fulfilling her own dreams.

 

But it wasn’t easy. She had to fight against a strong current and she had to do it during some of the most turbulent times in the history of the United States; the Depression, WWII and the Korean War.

 

Beside the struggle with living conditions, Nadra’s community was plagued by a nasty “social illness” called “Family secrets.” All ethnic groups suffer from this illness but this Saidnayan community took it to another level. Family secrets are two-edged swords. Although, sometimes, they protect people from feeling shame or embarrassment, but they may also cause significant harm that can’t be repaired. They might lead to misunderstanding and eventually, to more drama and troubles for the family.

 

The ending!? I am not going to spoil it for you. But prepare yourself to go on emotional rollercoaster. You will experience bursts of tears and bursts of laughs. But you have to go through the turbulent river of Nadra’s life to get to the end and you won’t regret this trip.

 

Final personal words:

I enjoyed reading this novel tremendously. Rose Ann used a very simple language that is easily understood by an immigrant who learned English as a second language. She had a very eloquent style of writing and used humor on many occasions. She even quoted few Saidnayan words and sentences that, as a descendent of that region, brought smile to my face.

 

I found myself comparing the details of the story with what I went through at the beginning of my life in America three and half decades ago, especially that I had the good fortune of living for few years with my great aunt who was a first-generation Saidnayan immigrant settling in Lowell, MA. around the same time when Nadra’s family immigrated. Reading this book resembled a trip down memory lane for me. And I suspect every immigrant will identify him/herself with the story of Nadra and her family regardless of the difference of the circumstances and the experience.

 

One caveat:

 When I read the title of the novel, I got the impression it was about a nun from Saidnaya. None of the Saidnayan immigrants in the story was a nun. I don’t know why the author chose this title. The story is definitely about “Bint Saidnaya بنت صيدنايا” which translates to English as “a girl from Saidnaya” or “a daughter of Saidnaya.” One way to get around this confusion while reading the book is to think of Nadra as your own sister. Problem is solved.

 

You can read more about the author here:

Rose Ann Kalister | Award-Winning Playwright and Author

 

And you can order the story from Amazon here:

Amazon.com: Sister of Saidnaya: A Syrian Immigrant's Tale: 9781633371811: Kalister, Rose Ann: Books