WILD POPPIES

A tale of two brothers set against the backdrop of the Syrian civil war.

After fleeing the violence that destroyed his family’s home and led to the death of his father, 15-year-old Omar diffidently steps into his role as head of the family. Living with his mother and younger brother and sister in his aunt Sajida’s home in Al-Nuaman (“the poppy flower”), Omar must obtain rations and other necessities, including medicine for their diabetic mother, while also trying to keep intractable Sufyan, 12, in line and his own heavy feelings at bay. Angry and unimpressed by his brother’s feeble attempts, Sufyan secretly provides for his family only to be coerced and abducted by the Falcons of Truth, a group of Muslim extremists seeking to indoctrinate and use child soldiers. Distraught over Sufyan’s disappearance, Omar attempts to find him, but soon further violence comes to the village and threatens his friends’ and family’s survival. Throughout this novel, which alternates between Omar’s and Sufyan’s perspectives, the brothers make thoughtful and heartbreaking observations about the cruelties of war, the loss of childhood innocence, and the hypocrisy of the Falcons, whose theology and practices sharply contrast with their own understandings of God and Islam. Saleh’s prose, translated from Arabic by Qualey, is accessible and straightforward. Though the novel is short, it carries deep emotional impact, and while the ending is somewhat abrupt, it’s imbued with themes of reconciliation and healing.

Hauntingly hopeful.