A love letter to Syria and its people, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Salt to the Sea.

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life.

Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe.

But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.

Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zoulfa Katouh is the award-winning and bestselling author of the novel AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW. It’s been translated into over twenty-five languages and was a Governor General’s Award finalist and a Yoto Carnegie Medal nominee. Zoulfa holds a degree in pharmacy and a master’s in Drug Sciences. She resides in Switzerland where she lives as a Studio Ghibli protagonist who is surrounded by a never-ending stack of books that keeps growing.

FROM NOVL NATION

“At times achingly tender and at times brutal, the author’s prose creates a world so real you’ll feel your heart shatter right along with the characters.”

“Zoulfa is a genius when it comes to her raw prose and lyrical descriptions… I can’t count the number of times I cried while reading, and the stark portrayal of grief, mental health, and—most importantly—hope is one of the most powerful that I have ever read.”

“This was a beautiful story of survival and perseverance… I would absolutely recommend for everyone to read.”