“Yazbek has created an original narrative voice (…) The contrast between the mild and narrower narrative and the terribly harsh reality of the novel is powerful“, writes Djuve in the review.

In the novel, we meet Rima, a girl who can not keep her legs quiet. Together with her mother and a brother, she lives in a studio in Damascus. And it is their encounter with the war that is the main theme of the novel.

The mother protects the little girl as best as she can, and sees no choice but to eventually tie her to herself with a rope around her waist so that she can not leave her.The mother has her examined, but the doctors cannot find anything wrong with Rima.Rima does not understand the acts of violence caused by the war. She cannot deal with them, so she seeks refuge in a fantasy world. To take control of the fear and powerlessness, she finally starts writing down her story.“It’s a brilliant romance character that Samar Yazbek writes (…) the literally gifted, but ignorant Rima records without understanding completely, without interpreting and without partying”, the Gothenburg Post wrote about The Blue Pen when it came out. Read more in Norwegian