Sarmada

?Sarmada, Arabic for perpetuate or the eternally-not-changed, is the novels fictitious setting. In the title, FadiAzzam creates a new word (a derivative female form of noun-verb, which does not exist in Arabic) and in sodoing immediately lets the reader know that women are the protagonists of this story that spans several generations,from Syria to Paris and back again.The novel is set in the Druze area and is a declaration of love for tolerance and for the peaceful coexistence ofthe many religious groups that live in close proximity. Myths, communists, nationalists, murder, illicit love, superstition, erotic trees and womens breasts make up thetapestry of this strange, beautifully writen, first novel. Fadi Azzam narrates, just as he writes poetry: Sarmada is direct, ruthlessand full of fire.