Set in 2018 against the ironic backdrop of an overcrowded, fetid
refugee camp on the beautiful, Homeric island of Samos in Greece,
The Good Deed follows the stories of five women: Amina, who is
nineteen and has just been released from one of Bashar al-Assad's
secret and torture-ridden prisons in Syria; Leila, a Syrian widow
with two little sons, who has lost her daughter and granddaughter
to smugglers on a Turkish beach; Nafisa, who survived civil war and
gang rape in Sudan only to see her entire family murdered, save for
one daughter; Farah, Leila's lost daughter; and finally, an
American named Hilma, who came from New York to Samos to escape her
own dark secret, only to become entangled in conflict with the very
people she wishes to help. Drawing from four years of interviews
with refugees on Samos, along with twelve previous years of work on
the Iraq War, Benedict has written The Good Deed as a series of
lyrical, intensely felt alternating voices, following these women's
everyday lives in the camp, as well each of their
backstories--stories of families, love, secrets, violence, war, and
flight. When Hilma, the American, unwittingly does a "good deed,"
she triggers a crisis that brings her and the refugee women into a
conflict that escalates dramatically as each character struggles
for what she needs. In essence, The Good Deed is about the struggle
never to lose hope, even in the face of war and the world's
hostility to refugees; the complexities that arise out of trying to
help others; the healing power of friendship; and the everlasting
bonds between mothers and children.
General
Imprint: |
Red Hen Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
March 2024 |
Authors: |
Helen Benedict
|
Dimensions: |
215 x 139mm (L x W) |
Pages: |
200 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-63628-112-4 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-63628-112-5 |
Barcode: |
9781636281124 |
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