About the book

In March of 2018, when the war in Syria enters its eighth year, Fernande van Tets moves to Damascus. As a communications officer for the United Nations, she lives in the opulence of the Four Seasons Hotel, with the secret service in the lobby, while outside the Syrian army forces the last rebel areas to surrender with starvation and bombings. During what is now called the ‘year of victory’, she sees what that victory has cost: a land in ruins and a people adrift.

She speaks with Syrians about how they see the future – from the fear of disappearing into a Syrian prison to finding a suitable partner now that so many people have died or fled. Syria is pressing for the return of refugees from abroad and, in the Netherlands too, people find it time that Syrians went home. But what is there for them to return to? Fernande van Tets sketches an impressive and terrifying picture of a country where life cannot be taken for granted.