By: Samar Yazbek
Translated by: Nashwa Gowanlock and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp
Published: Rider Books (Penguin Random House) 2015
Reviews
‘The Crossing is not simply reportage or political analysis. It bears comparison with George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia as a work of literature. Yazbek is a superb narrator who knows how to pace her text, craft dialogue and convey a universal sense of grief; this is how she crosses the line from journalism to high literary art.
Although it is probably not be what she intended, it may be that Samar Yazbek has written one of the first political classics of the 21st century.’
Andrew Hussey, The Observer
‘EXTRAORDINARILY POWERFUL, POIGNANT AND AFFECTING. I WAS GREATLY MOVED’
Michael Palin
‘It was insanely dangerous: a friend told Yazbek she was “showing off”, but there is little bravado in The Crossing.’
More reviews in The Economist, The Financial Times, The Irish Times, The Daily Mail and The Sunday Times; interviews with Samar Yazbek about The Crossing in World Literature Today, Qantara and Middle East Monitor
Published extracts
‘The barbed wire mauled my back as I crawled between the two countries. Then I ran…’ The Observer, June 2015
Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp 