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What We Remember Will Be Saved: A Story of Refugees and the Things They Carry
Eggplant seeds, a lullaby in a vanishing language, an embroidered dress. When people flee their homes, the things they save speak of beauty and suffering and the indomitable human spirit. In an era of mass migration in which more than 100 million people are displaced comes this lyrical portrait of Syrian and Iraqi refugees and the belongings they carry. What We Remember Will Be Saved is a book of hope, home, and the stories we hold within us when everything else has been lost. Journalist and scholar Stephanie Saldaña, who lived in Syria before the war, sets out on a journey across nine countries to meet refugees and learn what they salvaged from the ruins when they escaped. Now, in the narratives of six extraordinary women and men, from Mt. Sinjar to Aleppo to Lesvos to Amsterdam, we discover that the little things matter a great deal. Saldaña introduces us to a woman who saved her city in a dress, a musician who saved his stories in songs, and a couple who rebuilt their destroyed pharmacy even as the city around them fell apart. Together they provide a window into a religiously diverse corner of the Middle East on the edge of unraveling, and the people keeping it alive with their stories. Born of years of friendship and reporting, What We Remember Will Be Saved is a breathtaking, elegiac odyssey into the heart of the largest refugee crisis in modern history. It reminds us that refugees are storytellers and speakers of vanishing languages, and of how much history can be distilled into a piece of fabric, or eggplant seeds. What we salvage tells our story. What we remember will be saved.
280 pages, Hardcover
Published September 12, 2023
44 people are currently reading
1177 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
June 28, 2025
In a Nutshell: A book focussing not on refugees or their distressing situations, but on what they carry with them of their earlier lives, whether material or intangible. Hard-hitting content that will not leave you easily even after the last page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before I dive into my review, I want to share an anecdote.
At about 3 a.m. on 27th June 2014 (I remember the date because it was exactly a day before my sister’s wedding), the doorbell of my house rang furiously. We were startled awake, having gone to bed just an hour prior, after a pre-wedding function. It was the security guard, going floor to floor warning everyone to vacate their houses. An air conditioner on the 5th floor had short-circuited, and that apartment was in blazes. (My house is on the 13th floor.) In that strange mix of being half-asleep as well as hyper-conscious, my husband and I scrambled to get going. He helped his aged parents out while I took charge of our two little ones. Just as we were about to leave the house, I rushed back to our room to grab a bag, and in it, I stuffed our passports, bank docs, and our Aadhar cards (a unique identity card held by every citizen of India.) The fire was extinguished at about 5 a.m., and until then, we waited in the garden below, the kids asleep on my lap as I sat on the grass along with many other neighbours. After we were given the green signal to return home, my husband appreciated my presence of mind in carrying the important documents along despite the urgency. I too felt quite happy that I remembered something important.
A few days later though, I wondered what would have happened had the fire been even worse. My wedding album, my kids’ toys and clothes, all their priceless photographs from babyhood to toddlerhood, so many precious mementoes from my years of marriage and our travels together, my beloved books – everything would have been lost because I carried ONLY the practical essentials but not the emotional ones.
As I read this book, I thought back to that night of 2014 and realised how lucky I was that I had had the luxury of returning to my house with all our possessions intact. Not everyone shares the same fortune.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Imagine being forced to move out of your home, even your country, for things beyond your control. What would you carry, especially keeping in mind that you probably won’t be able to return? Or that with no means to travel with a heavy load, you will need to leave behind many fond items? Or that your smuggler, with that flimsy dinghy to carry you across the sea to “safety”, won’t allow you to board with more than one hand luggage?
What do you carry?
What do you leave behind?
This book tells us the six stories of men and women from Syria and Iraq, and the things they carried with them when they were compelled to vacate not just their houses but leave behind an entire life. Today, they have either received citizenship in some Western country, or they are still in a refugee camp waiting and hoping for their papers to be processed, or they are in limbo, caught in a country that refuses to legalise them but not willing to go elsewhere.
We call these people ‘refugees’. We picture them living in camps or struggling to survive in a new land speaking a new language. But do we ever remember that they had an identity before they were “refugees”? They were musicians, pharmacists, professors, farmers, engineers,… It is not just their material wealth that has vanished, but also their identity.
The author carried out her interviews with these displaced citizens over a period of six years in multiple countries. Through her question about what they carried from their homes, we get to know much more than an account of their physical possessions. We hear not just of their tangible losses but also of their memories, their language, their heritage. This book doesn’t contain a story of pain and helplessness, but one of hope and resilience, about determination and courage. It is the story of a shal, a buzuq, a pharmacy or two,… Of a musician and of a camel herder… Of an Aramaic speaker and a Yazidi raconteur… Of ordinary humans caught in extraordinary circumstances… Of the people who survived and yet died.
The anecdotes of these interviewees aren’t easy to read. The chapter based in Lesvos shattered me so much that I kept the book aside for a whole week. While each narrative was hardhitting, the one dearest to my heart was the story of the Syrian pharmacist couple, Adnan and Ghadir, possibly because theirs held the strongest promise of hope. In a book that broke me through and through, even the tiniest glimpse of hope made a difference.
There are so many takeaways from this work. We see the power of storytelling. We understand the importance of familial support. We despair over the destruction of monuments and cultures by political and religious extremists. We recognise the need to have faith (not necessarily in the one above) even in the darkest of times. But my most important takeaway from this work is: Be grateful for what you have, but don’t take anything for granted. You never know when your own world could be upended either by climate change or by political or religious jerks. (Using the word “jerks” in both its meanings here.) As the author herself says, "It could one day be any of us."
A must read, without a doubt. A portion of the proceeds from this book will go to organisations that support refugees.
4.5 stars. (Docking off 0.5 stars as there were no photos.)
The author's insightful prologue, and her extensive notes on each chapter at the end of the book provide plenty of shocking facts about the displaced people of Syria and Iraq. I shall present just one of them here:
“One in every seventy-eight people globally has been forced to flee from their homes.”
One in every seventy-eight! Let that sink in.
My thanks to Broadleaf Books and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “What We Remember Will Be Saved: A Story of Refugees and the Things They Carry”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before I dive into my review, I want to share an anecdote.
At about 3 a.m. on 27th June 2014 (I remember the date because it was exactly a day before my sister’s wedding), the doorbell of my house rang furiously. We were startled awake, having gone to bed just an hour prior, after a pre-wedding function. It was the security guard, going floor to floor warning everyone to vacate their houses. An air conditioner on the 5th floor had short-circuited, and that apartment was in blazes. (My house is on the 13th floor.) In that strange mix of being half-asleep as well as hyper-conscious, my husband and I scrambled to get going. He helped his aged parents out while I took charge of our two little ones. Just as we were about to leave the house, I rushed back to our room to grab a bag, and in it, I stuffed our passports, bank docs, and our Aadhar cards (a unique identity card held by every citizen of India.) The fire was extinguished at about 5 a.m., and until then, we waited in the garden below, the kids asleep on my lap as I sat on the grass along with many other neighbours. After we were given the green signal to return home, my husband appreciated my presence of mind in carrying the important documents along despite the urgency. I too felt quite happy that I remembered something important.
A few days later though, I wondered what would have happened had the fire been even worse. My wedding album, my kids’ toys and clothes, all their priceless photographs from babyhood to toddlerhood, so many precious mementoes from my years of marriage and our travels together, my beloved books – everything would have been lost because I carried ONLY the practical essentials but not the emotional ones.
As I read this book, I thought back to that night of 2014 and realised how lucky I was that I had had the luxury of returning to my house with all our possessions intact. Not everyone shares the same fortune.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Imagine being forced to move out of your home, even your country, for things beyond your control. What would you carry, especially keeping in mind that you probably won’t be able to return? Or that with no means to travel with a heavy load, you will need to leave behind many fond items? Or that your smuggler, with that flimsy dinghy to carry you across the sea to “safety”, won’t allow you to board with more than one hand luggage?
What do you carry?
What do you leave behind?
This book tells us the six stories of men and women from Syria and Iraq, and the things they carried with them when they were compelled to vacate not just their houses but leave behind an entire life. Today, they have either received citizenship in some Western country, or they are still in a refugee camp waiting and hoping for their papers to be processed, or they are in limbo, caught in a country that refuses to legalise them but not willing to go elsewhere.
We call these people ‘refugees’. We picture them living in camps or struggling to survive in a new land speaking a new language. But do we ever remember that they had an identity before they were “refugees”? They were musicians, pharmacists, professors, farmers, engineers,… It is not just their material wealth that has vanished, but also their identity.
The author carried out her interviews with these displaced citizens over a period of six years in multiple countries. Through her question about what they carried from their homes, we get to know much more than an account of their physical possessions. We hear not just of their tangible losses but also of their memories, their language, their heritage. This book doesn’t contain a story of pain and helplessness, but one of hope and resilience, about determination and courage. It is the story of a shal, a buzuq, a pharmacy or two,… Of a musician and of a camel herder… Of an Aramaic speaker and a Yazidi raconteur… Of ordinary humans caught in extraordinary circumstances… Of the people who survived and yet died.
The anecdotes of these interviewees aren’t easy to read. The chapter based in Lesvos shattered me so much that I kept the book aside for a whole week. While each narrative was hardhitting, the one dearest to my heart was the story of the Syrian pharmacist couple, Adnan and Ghadir, possibly because theirs held the strongest promise of hope. In a book that broke me through and through, even the tiniest glimpse of hope made a difference.
There are so many takeaways from this work. We see the power of storytelling. We understand the importance of familial support. We despair over the destruction of monuments and cultures by political and religious extremists. We recognise the need to have faith (not necessarily in the one above) even in the darkest of times. But my most important takeaway from this work is: Be grateful for what you have, but don’t take anything for granted. You never know when your own world could be upended either by climate change or by political or religious jerks. (Using the word “jerks” in both its meanings here.) As the author herself says, "It could one day be any of us."
A must read, without a doubt. A portion of the proceeds from this book will go to organisations that support refugees.
4.5 stars. (Docking off 0.5 stars as there were no photos.)
The author's insightful prologue, and her extensive notes on each chapter at the end of the book provide plenty of shocking facts about the displaced people of Syria and Iraq. I shall present just one of them here:
“One in every seventy-eight people globally has been forced to flee from their homes.”
One in every seventy-eight! Let that sink in.
My thanks to Broadleaf Books and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “What We Remember Will Be Saved: A Story of Refugees and the Things They Carry”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
February 20, 2025
A beautiful collection of refugee stories, told with admiration and generosity. This was enlightening and inspiring, even while it offered a sobering picture of displacement due to war.
September 28, 2023
I hope this book makes clear that the people we call “refugees” are artists, historians, musicians, chefs, mother and fathers, children and siblings, and those on the front line of heritage preservation. It could one day be any of us.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
First, I will state: You must read this book.
You must read this book for the sheer beauty of the writing and story telling. You must read this book to understand that no one leaves their home willingly, but for survival. You must read to learn the true scope of loss when conflict drives one to leave everything behind, except memories and the ways we preserve them. You must read this book to see how entire cultures and peoples are displaced and destroyed, how they long to return to what was lost.
Maybe you will think that you will go back. But don’t go back. The distance going back is the same as for going forward.
refugee quoted in What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
Second, I will state: Like a refining fire, this book will break your heart and strengthen your resolve. You will be angry. You will marvel at human indifference and fear. You will cast your eyes around and wonder how you can make a difference.
That was what I was learning: that when all else is taken away, then we have no choice but to create what we carry.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
This book evolved from years of interviewing refugees from Syria and Iraq, learning of their home villages, the catastrophe of war that drove them away, their sorrows and losses, how they keep their past life alive. An embroidered dress showing the daily life and places of the hometown lost. Music. Food. Story. Knowledge.
Story is what keeps us whole.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
You learn about their past, their struggles to survive, their new lives, so hard won.
You must not think that I saved my family. I didn’t save them. It was the women and children who kept me alive. If it wasn’t for them, I would have let myself die on that mountain. But I stayed alive because they needed us to save them.
quoted in What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
And you will think of your own story, how lucky you are in your easy life, or how your ancestors faced such things, or consider if this will someday be your future.
The words of these people will echo in your heart.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through LibraryThing.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
First, I will state: You must read this book.
You must read this book for the sheer beauty of the writing and story telling. You must read this book to understand that no one leaves their home willingly, but for survival. You must read to learn the true scope of loss when conflict drives one to leave everything behind, except memories and the ways we preserve them. You must read this book to see how entire cultures and peoples are displaced and destroyed, how they long to return to what was lost.
Maybe you will think that you will go back. But don’t go back. The distance going back is the same as for going forward.
refugee quoted in What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
Second, I will state: Like a refining fire, this book will break your heart and strengthen your resolve. You will be angry. You will marvel at human indifference and fear. You will cast your eyes around and wonder how you can make a difference.
That was what I was learning: that when all else is taken away, then we have no choice but to create what we carry.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
This book evolved from years of interviewing refugees from Syria and Iraq, learning of their home villages, the catastrophe of war that drove them away, their sorrows and losses, how they keep their past life alive. An embroidered dress showing the daily life and places of the hometown lost. Music. Food. Story. Knowledge.
Story is what keeps us whole.
from What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
You learn about their past, their struggles to survive, their new lives, so hard won.
You must not think that I saved my family. I didn’t save them. It was the women and children who kept me alive. If it wasn’t for them, I would have let myself die on that mountain. But I stayed alive because they needed us to save them.
quoted in What We Remember Will Be Saved by Stephanie Saldana
And you will think of your own story, how lucky you are in your easy life, or how your ancestors faced such things, or consider if this will someday be your future.
The words of these people will echo in your heart.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through LibraryThing.
August 15, 2023
I'm not crying, you're crying
September 9, 2023
* disclaimer * I'm lucky enough to consider Stephanie a friend but I was a fan of her work before I ever met her so this still feels unbiased.
Beautiful as always. Cried in the first fifteen pages and again many more times. I really hope this reaches the people it needs to.
Beautiful as always. Cried in the first fifteen pages and again many more times. I really hope this reaches the people it needs to.
October 21, 2023
3.5-overall enjoyed this but not sure if it was because of lots of stories highlighted but I had a hard time keeping them straight and feeling really connected to them.
January 4, 2025
“It can be easy enough to see the so-called refugee crisis as a story that is primarily about other people’s lives. On Lesvos, I finally understood how much it is about all of us. It is about our own unwillingness to see refugees and migrants as our neighbors, our friends, or even as ourselves, for it was increasingly obvious to me that any of us could be refugees in other circumstances. It is about our refusal to admit that the ways in which we welcome refugees and migrants can contribute to their mental health outcomes and the ways in which we reject them can contribute to their isolation and despair. It is about our willingness to exile to islands those people we would rather not confront with our own eyes, even if it meant leaving children out in the cold.”
A beautiful—albeit convicting—telling of specific refugee stories, that humanizes the news stories we’ve all read about places like Aleppo and Mosul.
A beautiful—albeit convicting—telling of specific refugee stories, that humanizes the news stories we’ve all read about places like Aleppo and Mosul.
January 6, 2024
This is a powerful book. Saldaña has collected and shared with us the personal stories of people who have fled conflict and sought refuge far from home. In doing so, she highlights community, humanity, culture, and the ties that bind us to each other. Her book asks us to see the resilient individuals whose experiences these are and not the labels and stereotypes attached to words like 'refugee'.
While there were some parts I found a little disjointed, this might just have been me having issues concentrating rather than the writing. I listened to the audiobook and did not totally click with the narrator. However, overall, this book was moving and incredibly powerful. More than this, Saldaña's dedication to this project is laudable, I think. These people's voices need to be heard. The stories of Munir and Ghadir and Adnan in particular, and the author's commentary on hostile policies towards asylum seekers, made me weep. I was out walking at the time. I should know better. It was embarrassing, but I just couldn't hold it in.
I really wish more people would shut up and listen to stories like these. Open our hearts and open our minds. When it comes to where we are born and our exposure to war, is it not all just the luck of the draw? And yet some of us are awfully jealous of our good fortune at the cost of our dececency, in my opinion. We are each and every one of us first and foremost a human being deserving of respect, dignity, and compassion.
While Saldaña's book is positive in so many ways, now that I've finished it, I feel kind of heartbroken with a big dose of moral distress and shame when I think about my own country's behaviour towards asylum seekers.
While there were some parts I found a little disjointed, this might just have been me having issues concentrating rather than the writing. I listened to the audiobook and did not totally click with the narrator. However, overall, this book was moving and incredibly powerful. More than this, Saldaña's dedication to this project is laudable, I think. These people's voices need to be heard. The stories of Munir and Ghadir and Adnan in particular, and the author's commentary on hostile policies towards asylum seekers, made me weep. I was out walking at the time. I should know better. It was embarrassing, but I just couldn't hold it in.
I really wish more people would shut up and listen to stories like these. Open our hearts and open our minds. When it comes to where we are born and our exposure to war, is it not all just the luck of the draw? And yet some of us are awfully jealous of our good fortune at the cost of our dececency, in my opinion. We are each and every one of us first and foremost a human being deserving of respect, dignity, and compassion.
While Saldaña's book is positive in so many ways, now that I've finished it, I feel kind of heartbroken with a big dose of moral distress and shame when I think about my own country's behaviour towards asylum seekers.
February 13, 2024
This is a beautiful anthology of refugee stories and what they carry with them when seeking refuge whether it is a physical object, skill set, or stories. 'What We Remember Will Be Saved' brought me to tears many times. Saldana did an amazing job recounting the stories she was told from refugees of Iraq and Syria scattered across the global diaspora. This book shines a light on such an important humanitarian issue in a most poignant way.
December 16, 2023
3.5
Refugee story about several families seemed a little disjointed… Not completely memorable . Unfortunately, I read it a few weeks ago and can’t really write a good review at this point.
Refugee story about several families seemed a little disjointed… Not completely memorable . Unfortunately, I read it a few weeks ago and can’t really write a good review at this point.
November 18, 2024
Just, sighs. People can be heartbreakingly beautiful and horrible and we all have to live together and it sucks. This book is lovely but people who need to read it probably won’t. And the cycle of destruction by corruption will continue on and on while people sadly remember the beautiful things that used to be.
Um, I need someone to recommend something that will lighten my mood. Holy shit. Excellent book, but maybe not when you’re bummed about all of the things.
Um, I need someone to recommend something that will lighten my mood. Holy shit. Excellent book, but maybe not when you’re bummed about all of the things.
February 20, 2024
This broke my heart and healed it, in a way, too. A reminder to ask questions and listen to the stories so we can remember all these dear people carry. We are not our passports or the labels foisted upon us. Ask and listen to the stories around you and remember with them.
April 1, 2024
4.5 Stars
A truly worthwhile read with stories of loss and perseverance from numerous refugees from conflict in Syria and Iraq. Although sometimes a little bit hard to follow, the harrowing tales of these refugees had me truly rapt. Would definitely recommend
A truly worthwhile read with stories of loss and perseverance from numerous refugees from conflict in Syria and Iraq. Although sometimes a little bit hard to follow, the harrowing tales of these refugees had me truly rapt. Would definitely recommend
December 17, 2025
3.5 stars
The stories in this book were moving accounts of refugees and their families. I think I took too long to read it and had a difficult time remembering who the people were and keeping stories straight.
The stories in this book were moving accounts of refugees and their families. I think I took too long to read it and had a difficult time remembering who the people were and keeping stories straight.
September 27, 2023
A beautiful, humanizing record of personal stories by refugees.
November 17, 2023
Early on Saldana speaks of the "things that last": Recipes. Seeds. Perfume. Gardens. Prayers. Languages and Music (p. 66). How could one not love a book with such depth to the seeming ephemeral which becomes that which lasts the longest.
This book should get another .5 for its uniqueness (4.5) and the duress the author went to write it. Her speaking Arabic and familiarity with some of the areas explored must have truly helped her, as it was such a foreign exploration for my very Western experience and exposures. When I read in the news of Iraq, Syria or the Yazidi peoples, I have little in the way of points of reference, but Saldana places a map in the book's front pages to help orient readers, likely from the West, who are also not as familiar with this area of the world, other than perhaps thru war stories.
In a way these are the unintended consequences of war stories as the Civil War in Syria has been going on for a dozen years and has displaced 13 million Syrians, and created 6.7 million refugees fleeing, with over half a million killed to-date.
And then so many people after the Iraqi invasion by America ,that left about another half a million dead Iraquis, and 9.2 million displaced over 8 years (2003-2011), and another 4.7 million who live from day-to-day without food security.
And then there was ISIS which controlled and destroyed cultural icons and thousands of people and tried to eliminate certain minorities over 40% of Iraq and 30% of Syria. But Saldana's book isn't about figures like these but only 5 personal family stories that tend more to build the reader's empathy and familiarity with the kinds of impact these far-reaching violence has had. She keeps it personal and thereby has the reader more identify with these tragedies we enter into with promises of quick victories and "shock and awe".
Also represented are the scapegoated minority of the Yazidi people who we recall from the news when there were some rescued from a mountaintop while under attack just for being a minority.
Although I was a bit more familiar with Jordan, Turkey and Greece. I was only familiar with the Greek island of Lesvos where I'd known many of the migrants in the rubber dingy were often sent, thinking how generous Greece was in taking them in to Lesvoce but this turns out not to quite be so true. There was a huge migrant camp on Lesvos, but I'd not known that the island was:
1. a hellhole of a place or
2. that it had burned to the ground in 2020
These stories describe the special ways migrants had of remembering their homes, that were so touching. Saldana has a gift for building real empathy from her readers, as you come to admire the many desperate folks escaping war, kidnapping, and unwanted displacements for fear from soldiers and ISIS throughout the many stories of harrowing escapes of migrants and their tenacious hanging on to dreams of one sort or another.
Saldana is so creative in the vehicle she uses to tell the five family stories--that is, through some valued item that each carries with them to their final destination, whether it's a "shal"/quilt with threads drawing a picture of Hana's obliterated home city in Iraq, or a beloved business of a pharmacy for which all had been sacrificed to little avail. The stories of such precious memories were gut wrenching.
I don't see how anyone could feel the same about migrants after reading Saldana's book. She brings such tenderness to the five families, and such honor to the varied ways they see themselves in the world, such understanding and respect for non-Western ways. The musician who would always name his 6 generations of grandfathers to his audience, and then ask who had one of these same grandfathers,--- making the point that we are all related.
Tradition, honor and legacy were held so tenaciously, and of course "family" was all. The musician worked so hard to learn and purchase his traditional guitar-like instrument with which he only hoped to bring traditional Kurdish music of his home country through the buzuq (#24 frets along its neck) that he dearly loved. And his younger friend who played another Syrian instrument as they wished to preserve their endangered unique music. Ferhad told the stories, while Hozan spoke thru his music; theirs was Kurdish music that had been passed over generations.
I will reference Munir's story and quote a passage, as it's impossible to capture the spirit of this author's ability to imprint permanent memories of these laudatory and tenacious life-giving migrants, who had been chased from place to place to place, one learning 5 languages while finally being resettled in Australia, having begun in Qaraqosh, Iraq to Amman, Jordan, to Sydney, Australia, over many years.
Munir held such kindness as his way of revolting against all the less-than-human treatment on Lesvos, where some 20K migrants were held in a camp on the Greek island, when few European nations would take them. They'd arrive densely packed in their dangerous dingy and rubber boats which often sank and the riders drowned en route, but that's how desperate they had become running from wars and ISIS and the deaths and chaos that ensued.
The author speaks of years later not recovering from what she'd seen in Lesvos: human beings treated like animals, and Munir speaking his eloquent Arabic, walking her through the destroyed streets of his home in their imaginations from the front of his tent in the cold. "His kindness. His politeness. The way it felt so surreal among the cruelty of the camp. The way I learned from him that a kind word can be a deliberate act of resistance."(p. 143).
So, all of this to say, this is a book for anyone interested in immigration, migrants or refugees, as it gives them their due in respect, admiration and tenderness. You realize these are not just everyday immigrants seeking a better life, but war-torn and fearful persons escaping for their lives, true refugees.
I will end this review with a summary of the 4th story, the couple who had two children and a dream of a pharmacy, which had been destroyed, so they finally began another in their garage before migrating out of war-torn Syria.
Their goals for their small garage pharmacy give you insight into how "pain is the intercessor of empathy" (Catudal):
1. Be available
2. Be attentive (In a moment of displacement & separated from family, we want the pharmacy to feel like home)
3. Be dependable (If we don't have it, ask them to return in a few hours and not have them risk travel, but rather, we get it from another pharmacy and then re-sell without markup)
4. Be kind--- The foundation of the pharmacy (they wanted to salvage some memory of what Aleppo had been like before the war: relationships, small gestures, hospitality (p. 188)
The pharmacy became a home away from home, seemingly a place of counsel, healing and relationship. It was more than what we may typically think of as a "pharmacy". But then everything in this book was so much more than its seeming face value; it was a book full of new understandings and ways of existing in this world.
Amen to this fine book, with its special familiarity with unfamiliar places, at least to me. Thanks to a gifted author Stephanie Saldana.
This book should get another .5 for its uniqueness (4.5) and the duress the author went to write it. Her speaking Arabic and familiarity with some of the areas explored must have truly helped her, as it was such a foreign exploration for my very Western experience and exposures. When I read in the news of Iraq, Syria or the Yazidi peoples, I have little in the way of points of reference, but Saldana places a map in the book's front pages to help orient readers, likely from the West, who are also not as familiar with this area of the world, other than perhaps thru war stories.
In a way these are the unintended consequences of war stories as the Civil War in Syria has been going on for a dozen years and has displaced 13 million Syrians, and created 6.7 million refugees fleeing, with over half a million killed to-date.
And then so many people after the Iraqi invasion by America ,that left about another half a million dead Iraquis, and 9.2 million displaced over 8 years (2003-2011), and another 4.7 million who live from day-to-day without food security.
And then there was ISIS which controlled and destroyed cultural icons and thousands of people and tried to eliminate certain minorities over 40% of Iraq and 30% of Syria. But Saldana's book isn't about figures like these but only 5 personal family stories that tend more to build the reader's empathy and familiarity with the kinds of impact these far-reaching violence has had. She keeps it personal and thereby has the reader more identify with these tragedies we enter into with promises of quick victories and "shock and awe".
Also represented are the scapegoated minority of the Yazidi people who we recall from the news when there were some rescued from a mountaintop while under attack just for being a minority.
Although I was a bit more familiar with Jordan, Turkey and Greece. I was only familiar with the Greek island of Lesvos where I'd known many of the migrants in the rubber dingy were often sent, thinking how generous Greece was in taking them in to Lesvoce but this turns out not to quite be so true. There was a huge migrant camp on Lesvos, but I'd not known that the island was:
1. a hellhole of a place or
2. that it had burned to the ground in 2020
These stories describe the special ways migrants had of remembering their homes, that were so touching. Saldana has a gift for building real empathy from her readers, as you come to admire the many desperate folks escaping war, kidnapping, and unwanted displacements for fear from soldiers and ISIS throughout the many stories of harrowing escapes of migrants and their tenacious hanging on to dreams of one sort or another.
Saldana is so creative in the vehicle she uses to tell the five family stories--that is, through some valued item that each carries with them to their final destination, whether it's a "shal"/quilt with threads drawing a picture of Hana's obliterated home city in Iraq, or a beloved business of a pharmacy for which all had been sacrificed to little avail. The stories of such precious memories were gut wrenching.
I don't see how anyone could feel the same about migrants after reading Saldana's book. She brings such tenderness to the five families, and such honor to the varied ways they see themselves in the world, such understanding and respect for non-Western ways. The musician who would always name his 6 generations of grandfathers to his audience, and then ask who had one of these same grandfathers,--- making the point that we are all related.
Tradition, honor and legacy were held so tenaciously, and of course "family" was all. The musician worked so hard to learn and purchase his traditional guitar-like instrument with which he only hoped to bring traditional Kurdish music of his home country through the buzuq (#24 frets along its neck) that he dearly loved. And his younger friend who played another Syrian instrument as they wished to preserve their endangered unique music. Ferhad told the stories, while Hozan spoke thru his music; theirs was Kurdish music that had been passed over generations.
I will reference Munir's story and quote a passage, as it's impossible to capture the spirit of this author's ability to imprint permanent memories of these laudatory and tenacious life-giving migrants, who had been chased from place to place to place, one learning 5 languages while finally being resettled in Australia, having begun in Qaraqosh, Iraq to Amman, Jordan, to Sydney, Australia, over many years.
Munir held such kindness as his way of revolting against all the less-than-human treatment on Lesvos, where some 20K migrants were held in a camp on the Greek island, when few European nations would take them. They'd arrive densely packed in their dangerous dingy and rubber boats which often sank and the riders drowned en route, but that's how desperate they had become running from wars and ISIS and the deaths and chaos that ensued.
The author speaks of years later not recovering from what she'd seen in Lesvos: human beings treated like animals, and Munir speaking his eloquent Arabic, walking her through the destroyed streets of his home in their imaginations from the front of his tent in the cold. "His kindness. His politeness. The way it felt so surreal among the cruelty of the camp. The way I learned from him that a kind word can be a deliberate act of resistance."(p. 143).
So, all of this to say, this is a book for anyone interested in immigration, migrants or refugees, as it gives them their due in respect, admiration and tenderness. You realize these are not just everyday immigrants seeking a better life, but war-torn and fearful persons escaping for their lives, true refugees.
I will end this review with a summary of the 4th story, the couple who had two children and a dream of a pharmacy, which had been destroyed, so they finally began another in their garage before migrating out of war-torn Syria.
Their goals for their small garage pharmacy give you insight into how "pain is the intercessor of empathy" (Catudal):
1. Be available
2. Be attentive (In a moment of displacement & separated from family, we want the pharmacy to feel like home)
3. Be dependable (If we don't have it, ask them to return in a few hours and not have them risk travel, but rather, we get it from another pharmacy and then re-sell without markup)
4. Be kind--- The foundation of the pharmacy (they wanted to salvage some memory of what Aleppo had been like before the war: relationships, small gestures, hospitality (p. 188)
The pharmacy became a home away from home, seemingly a place of counsel, healing and relationship. It was more than what we may typically think of as a "pharmacy". But then everything in this book was so much more than its seeming face value; it was a book full of new understandings and ways of existing in this world.
Amen to this fine book, with its special familiarity with unfamiliar places, at least to me. Thanks to a gifted author Stephanie Saldana.
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November 14, 2023Interesting but just didn’t hold my attention.
January 23, 2025
My grandparents came to the USA from Slovakia. Not as refugees, but as immigrants. I’m not sure what physical possessions they brought with them. What our family has from our heritage are snippets of the Slovak language and holiday traditions, mostly centering around food. In Saldana’s book, I was introduced to what today’s refugees carry and what may be remembered by the time their second-generation descendants are alive. This is a poignant, very personal recounting of the refugees mostly from Iraq and Syria. I learned about the woman who embroidered her hometown on a dress, two men who use traditional instruments and music to keep their heritage alive, a family of Yazidi who are sheltering in a German convent desperate to reunite with their family. Yet, what becomes so clear in these memorable stories is the heart, the generosity, the humanity, and the compassion the refugees demonstrate. They don’t speak about hate or revenge or retribution. Saldana mentions that in 2022, one in 78 people in the world were refugees. This book shows us the face and humanity of these staggering numbers.
September 28, 2023
There have been many books and media stories about the effects of the War on Terror on American soldiers (and if past wars are indicative there are better ones still to come). But not nearly enough written about the lives that were displaced, those killed or forced to begin again - carrying what they could in their arms or in their stories, songs and crafts. Saldaña through these five stories unfolding through nine countries does something that history and news often fail to do - tell what happened through the voices of people who had the most at stake. History found on a shawl, or in a song, photos, or in the story of a community remembering it together miles away from where it happened will turn out to be truer than an official account designed to preserve the ego of the official who wrote it. What I most hope comes from Saldaña's stories is a more accurate knowledge of the people who wind up becoming refugees - teachers, pharmacists, engineers, doctors, musicians, families - people not much different from the readers except for the good fortune of geography.
August 22, 2024
This book is a unique glimpse into the lives of refugees. What the media attempts to do partially, Stephanie Saldaña does fully in her conversations with refugees from Syria and Iraq. Instead of simply telling a sob story, the author has a different objective in mind - to see, after fleeing for their lives and living in exile, what remains of their homes - the clothes they wore, the food they ate, the songs they sang, the memories they made. Instead of creating an image, as the media does, this book highlights each refugee it features with all of their strengths and individuality. What I found most interesting was the great lengths that they had to go to get where they were when Saladña interviewed them, and the unthinkable situations that they survived. From opening a pharmacy in the middle of war-torn Aleppo to hiding from ISIS on a mountain, these people have some crazy stories. I definitely recommend this book.
February 23, 2025
I heard about this book yesterday, & today I read the whole thing- I couldn't put it down. My heart broke for the horrors these refugees have gone through, both in their war-torn countries and in the shocking conditions of the camps where some of them end up. But their gripping personal accounts show hope & resilience & how they helped each other during the hard times.
This book tells of the things refugees take with them when they flee, both tangible & intangible- from a dress a woman embroidered with scenes from her hometown to the oral history traditions of the Yazidis, & how these items help them preserve their history & keep their home in their hearts. Their stories gave me greater awareness of ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts, and a greater desire to help the millions of refugees whose lives are changed because of them. Read this book!
This book tells of the things refugees take with them when they flee, both tangible & intangible- from a dress a woman embroidered with scenes from her hometown to the oral history traditions of the Yazidis, & how these items help them preserve their history & keep their home in their hearts. Their stories gave me greater awareness of ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts, and a greater desire to help the millions of refugees whose lives are changed because of them. Read this book!
November 5, 2025
There is a light that Stephanie Saldana carries in her heart that shines through in everything that she writes and like her other two books, What We Remember Will Be Saved is like a beacon, shedding light in a world that is sometimes all too dark and violent. The stories that she shares of Syrian, Iraqi, and Yazidi refugees remind us that beauty must still be found in the wreckage. And while so much has been lost in these war torn regions, it is the humanity of these individuals who have escaped that has been saved whether in the form of a shal, a musical instrument., or medicinal knowledge that has saved countless lives. It is heartbreaking to read of their continued struggles, but Saldana reminds us that we must hear their stories, listen to their sorrows and share in their triumphs however big or small.
October 7, 2023
Won this from Librarything.
I found this book heartbreaking, full of hope and strength.
This is the story of people not refugees, but of people from all walks of life. They are
gift musicans, teachers, mothers and fathers. It could be next door neighbor. Each
carries something of their faith, langue, calture and a piece of themselves.
The stores these people tell of their flight and what they could carry with them fleeing
from war in their country. So much insight into what they endured and restarting over.
It made me stop and ask what would I take if I was in their place. No one know till they have
been but in that spot. Vey heartbreaking so have tissue at hand.
Recommend for all to read.
I found this book heartbreaking, full of hope and strength.
This is the story of people not refugees, but of people from all walks of life. They are
gift musicans, teachers, mothers and fathers. It could be next door neighbor. Each
carries something of their faith, langue, calture and a piece of themselves.
The stores these people tell of their flight and what they could carry with them fleeing
from war in their country. So much insight into what they endured and restarting over.
It made me stop and ask what would I take if I was in their place. No one know till they have
been but in that spot. Vey heartbreaking so have tissue at hand.
Recommend for all to read.
December 14, 2023
This book is an act of remembering- an absolute beautiful collection of 6 refugees stories, told via stories and interviews from Saldana. Stephanie Saldana is an absolutely fantastic storyteller. She does these 6 people stories such good justice- she really paints a picture and makes you feel for them. This book focuses on what refugees have left behind- jobs, businesses, family, safety, belonging- and how their lives and identities have changed since fleeing their home. She tells the stories of their uprooted lives and their resilience while also discussing the disappearances of language, culture, and community that refugees face. So so beautiful and so heartbreaking. These people have a bravery that I do not. I loved this book. 100% recommend.
April 10, 2025
My first 5 star adult book of the year. This is such a moving and informative book; a series of well told memories and documented recent history of the Middle East. You will learn of places, people, and languages not often heard in mainstream US media. You will have a deeper understanding of conflicts within the Middle East and how different people, communities, cultures, and languages were and continue to be affected. You will hear stories of love, hope, longing, and dreams deferred. You will learn of centuries old customs and languages on the brink of extinction. You will have empathy for people displaced, when all that they were able to save was nothing tangible. A MUST READ for historians and citizens of this world.
October 2, 2023
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
In this collection of stories, Stephanie Saldana relates to the reader the stories of five refugees and their families: the stories of their struggles to flee their homes in Iraq, Syria during times of war. These refugees could not carry many items with them as they fled, many on foot. What they did carry, however, were their stories, their traditions, their faith, their history. Saldana's beautiful prose captures each refugee's heartbreaking yet inspiring story. I cannot imagine hearing each story firsthand, with all its weight and emotion. This book will stay with me for a long time.
In this collection of stories, Stephanie Saldana relates to the reader the stories of five refugees and their families: the stories of their struggles to flee their homes in Iraq, Syria during times of war. These refugees could not carry many items with them as they fled, many on foot. What they did carry, however, were their stories, their traditions, their faith, their history. Saldana's beautiful prose captures each refugee's heartbreaking yet inspiring story. I cannot imagine hearing each story firsthand, with all its weight and emotion. This book will stay with me for a long time.
December 1, 2023
Road trip audio book. not sure why I cannot find the ISBN for the audio version. Very interesting listening to the stories of refugees from Syria and Iraq. Some of the stories are of people that Ms. Saldana knew while she lived in Syria before the war. She learned of others and then traveled over several countries in order to interview or re-interview them after they immigrated. The loss of families, homes, livelihoods, careers, possessions, religions and even languages are so sad. But to hear of the resilience of these people makes me hopeful. As they hold on to their stories through music, memories and sewing they preserve some of themselves and their history.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2024
This is such an important book that anyone would benefit from reading. In a world that constantly gives us headlines about refugee crises, it’s imperative that we remember that a refugee is a whole person — with a history, objects that matter to them, plans and promises they’ve made, goals, hobbies, and more. By telling us individual stories of people who had to flee their homes and what they brought with them, the author gives us windows into different types of families, different faith traditions, different cultures. But she also gives us mirrors that help us see that they are individuals, just like us, and that no one plans to be a refugee — it can happen to anyone. Highly recommend!
November 5, 2024
This book was a bit of a slog for me. Non-fiction is not my preferred genre and I felt this read somewhat as if it was written by a reporter, which it was. There were touching and painful stories of tragic events told somewhat poetically, but having them described to me followed by descriptions of how the author vomited or sobbed or reacted with sadness and horror, was not particularly effective at making me feel any more involved or that I had shared the experience on a personal level. Difficult subject matter for sure, and that may have been my problem, but again, I had difficulty maintaining interest.
March 3, 2025
What we remember will be saved follows 5 different people who fled from war in their homelands and what they brought with them, both material and non material . While the stories of these people is challenging it’s told in a way that shows love, compassion, and care for the people, cities, and cultures that have suffered due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. This story was written with such empathy to people who’ve, in a time of true crisis, needed it most and received the opposite. While the content can feel heavy at times, I highly encourage anyone to read this book. It’s one that’s going to stay with me for a while.
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