Published by L’Express. September 26 2018.
She understands French, but prefers to speak in Arabic. For fear of losing her tongue: “It would be a double exile”, explains Samar Yazbek with a serious smile, refugee in France since the summer of 2011. For having participated in the revolt against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, this secular intellectual and democratic has become a prey for extremists of all stripes. “And I would feel even more guilty,” she continues.

Through Farid Abou Chaar’s desperate attempt to get published in Beirut, a humorous story about the end of this industry. 

There is ultimately one kind of fear: The fear of fear. The psychological depths of fear and anxiety brilliantly explored in a novel set in contemporary Syria.

Index is without a doubt a literary achievement. The novel explores the limits of literature, and the impossibility for words and for any narrative to convey the extent of the destruction and the feeling of loss.

Interview conducted by Margrethe Zacho Haarde for Aftenposten, published on September 25.
Photo credit: Aftenposten
(….) Samar Yazbek has written her fifth book, a literary narrative, The Crossing. Yazbek writes about Syrian families who have been displaced from their homes and hiding in cold, dark caves; children with amputated limbs who sit in the sun and play.

Marta Norheim published this review in NRK, on December 2014. Photo credit: Cappelen Damm
“Whoever is looking for exoticism, Arabian nights, rebellion against reports about violations of human rights, or Islamic studies will be disappointed with this novel. Ghalib is mostly captivated by his age, and by the fact that he cannot marry his lover, a woman he has loved for 20 years”