The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar
The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar is both a modern tale and an ancient tale.
When Nour was very young, her father told her the story of Rawiya, a brave, curious girl who secretly left home in Ceuta, on the north-west tip of Africa, to become an apprentice with a renowned 12 century mapmaker. Only made possible by disguising herself as a boy, her adventures entranced Nour so much that she begged her father to recount the long story endlessly. Until he was killed.
Nour’s family felt relatively safe in Homs, Syria, until a bomb from the once-distant war pulverized their house. Her mother decided that their family must leave Syria as refugees, to seek shelter from an uncle living in Ceuta. Thus, the parallel treks of the two girls begin to play out, not always completely in tandem. At night, Nour listens to the imagined spirit of her father recounting the old tale, comforting her with both his presence and the theme of overcoming frightening obstacles. Rawiya, with her mapmaker and another apprentice, travelled – sometimes feted and sometimes chased – through the medieval Arabic world, creating a marvel of documentation that in a non-fiction world still exists.
Soon, Nour dons the safer disguise of a boy. At a safe distance, we are exposed to the immense uncertainties navigated by those who find themselves on the refugee trail. Exploitation is a constant fear – the fear of losing one’s money, or loved ones, or life. Cruelly, the family has to break up. Nour’s oldest sister is seriously shot in the shoulder; in Egypt; the family waits to get her hospital care for a while, but the refugee routes are no place to convalesce. Although the family tries to go on as a whole, the patient has to return to hospital. Nour and her next sister are put onto a (possibly illegal) ferry, hiding in the hold, while crew members periodically check the cargo. Only minutes away from arriving in Libya, the ferry is attacked and capsizes. Luck, supported by resilience, is the only way to survive.
