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My Road from Damascus: A Memoir

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“A lyrical, extremely rich narrative of loss, memory, and trauma.” — STARRED review, Kirkus Reviews
An extraordinary account of survival in Syria’s most notorious military prisons that is written with “brutal clarity — and yet, there is a poetic quality to the telling.” — Frances Itani, award-winning author of Deafening and Remembering the Bones
Jamal Saeed arrived as a refugee in Canada in 2016. In his native Syria, as a young man, his writing pushed both social and political norms. For this reason, as well as his opposition to the regimes of the al-Assads, he was imprisoned on three occasions for a total of 12 years. In each instance, he was held without formal charge and without judicial process.
My Road from Damascus not only tells the story of Saeed’s severe years in Syria’s most notorious military prisons but also his life during the country’s dramatic changes. Saeed chronicles modern Syria from the 1950s right up to his escape to Canada in 2016, recounting its descent from a country of potential to a pawn of cynical and corrupt powers. He paints a picture of village life, his youthful love affairs, his rebellion as a young Marxist, and his evolution into a free thinker, living in hiding as a teenager for 30 months while being hunted by the secret police. He recalls his brutal prison years, his final release, and his family’s harrowing escape to Canada.
While many prison memoirs focus on the cruelty of incarceration, My Road from Damascus offers a tapestry of Saeed’s whole life. It looks squarely at brutality but also at beauty and poetry, hope and love.

428 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 24, 2022

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Jamal Saeed

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5 stars
51 (41%)
4 stars
43 (35%)
3 stars
20 (16%)
2 stars
6 (4%)
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2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for Steph VanderMeulen.
126 reviews81 followers
December 12, 2022
This book made a huge impact on me while I was working on it with ECW Press. It's actually not that often that I'm so deeply affected by the books I work on. I had several excellent conversations with Jamal afterward, who unflinchingly brings to light the horrific Syrian prisoner and refugee experience in an ongoing time of civil war. He is an amazing survivor with a poet's heart. He has an incredible story, and he tells it in a heartbreakingly beautiful way, skillfully blending both suffering and happiness to great effect. This is an important book, and I'm privileged to have experienced it.
Profile Image for Enid Wray.
1,439 reviews75 followers
November 22, 2022
WOW! An incredibly powerful - and necessarily brutal - telling… showcasing the injustice, indignities, immorality and illegality of the Syrian regime… as evidenced through the experience of one man.

This is a testament to the power of the human spirit, to ingenuity and creativity, and to the resilience of a people as they stand up to tyranny.

This is neither an easy read, nor a quick read. You will need to pause: at some times to recover from the brutality of what you are reading; at other times to marvel over the poetic language that the author employs.

This is an important contribution to a growing Canadian body of work on Syria, and the Arab World (Arab Spring countries/movements) more generally.
Profile Image for Karen.
131 reviews
August 14, 2022
Well written and informative. Very good memoir!!!
Profile Image for Sonee Singh.
Author 5 books19 followers
May 4, 2022
This book is really touching. It is told non-chronologically, yet all the events fall into place according to a theme. At times, it is harrowing, given the mistreatment the author received when in prison and the many challenges he faced. Yet it is a story of resilience and courage. I felt I learned about what life was like in Syria. The book was entertaining and insightful, as it recounted his loves and the evolution of his thought process. I was impressed by his writing style, which at times read like poetry.
1 review
October 4, 2022
An incredible and moving journey of perseverance and hope. Jamal documents his experience and all the tragic injustices in Syria without forgetting all the beauty that existed. He touches on the kindness of strangers in Syria and Canada and how they ended up having a big impact on his life. A must read.
Profile Image for Margo.
140 reviews3 followers
August 3, 2022
Easy smooth read love it. Great book enjoyed reading it.
Profile Image for Kelly (miss_kellysbookishcorner).
1,106 reviews
February 11, 2023
Title: My Road from Damascus
Author: Jamal Saeed
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: October 4, 2022

Thank you to ECW Press for sending me physical ARC as well as providing me with ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Horrific • Poetic • Descriptive

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Jamal Saeed arrived as a refugee in Canada in 2016. In his native Syria, as a young man, his writing pushed both social and political norms. For this reason, as well as his opposition to the regimes of the al-Assads, he was imprisoned on three occasions for a total of 12 years. In each instance, he was held without formal charge and without judicial process.

My Road from Damascus not only tells the story of Saeed’s severe years in Syria’s most notorious military prisons but also his life during the country’s dramatic changes. Saeed chronicles modern Syria from the 1950s right up to his escape to Canada in 2016, recounting its descent from a country of potential to a pawn of cynical and corrupt powers. It paints a picture of village life, his rebellion as a young Marxist and evolution into a free thinker, living in hiding as a teenager for 30 months while being hunted by the secret police, his youthful love affairs, how he survived his brutal prison years, his final release, and his family’s harrowing escape to Canada.

💭 T H O U G H T S

When the opportunity arose for me to receive an advanced copy of My Road from Damascus, it was one I couldn't pass up. I knew this book would be an eye-opening journey, allowing me to expand my knowledge and empathy for the ongoing struggles faced by the people of Syria today.
And I was absolutely right. I switched from the physical book to the audiobook as I made my way through.

Jamal Saeed tells his story in a heartbreakingly beautiful and non-chronological manner. His writing style is incredibly poetic as he details the injustices and indignities of the Syrian regime. While personally, I'd have preferred a chronological narration, I completely understand why the author chose not to do so. However, it did end up making the book quite long. While much of this book details his suffering, Saeed blends in the beauty as well. I think those moments of happiness were extremely important given everything else.

The audio narration read by Pasha Ebrahimi was excellent with good articulation and flow. I did need to speed up the narration, as the pacing is quite slow. Listening to the audiobook brought Saeed's story to life, and helped me with pronunciations I'd have otherwise butchered.

This is by no means a quick read, rather one that will make you pause to reflect and gather yourself in order to keep going. It's a book that will likely shift your perspective and make you reconsider your own privilege and cultural biases. It's an informative story of despair, love, resilience, and hope. If you're thinking of picking this one up, I'd highly recommend the audiobook to help move the story alone.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for an in depth account of life in Syria
• anyone looking for a resilient story

⚠️ CW: violence, torture, gore, imprisonment, confinement, cursing, racial slurs, sexism, misogyny, death, injury/injury detail, police brutality
1 review
October 5, 2022
Informative, touching and overall made me re-examine my own cultural biases and privileges.
1 review1 follower
October 5, 2022
Mr. Saeed is a master of storytelling. His poetic writing shows both the beauty of his old home and the immense struggles he endured. Truly a perspective changing book that will leave you speechless.
1 review1 follower
August 7, 2024
I am often touched when I have the privilege to read a book that is the story of someone’s life. This book is no exception. My Road From Damascus is a rich tapestry of life, pain, injustice, beauty, and above all else, love. It is an important story, and I am so glad that it was shared with the world. Beyond the story contained within its pages, Saeed’s eloquent prose and thoughts pervade, often with sentences that evoke brief pauses of introspection and grace.

“Here we miss the touch of tenderness to release the weeping that stays inside us. Tears fall inwards like little salty moons.”

This book also had a large impact on me because of its context. I had the honour of becoming friends with one of Mr. Saeed’s children because we went to the same high school and lived down the street from each other in Canada. I only met Mr. and Mrs. Saeed once in passing. Even still, I was greeted with huge smiles, apple slices, and the offer to come into their home as a guest in the short time it took for their son to retrieve the item he needed before we had to leave. Now, years later, I find myself thinking back to this moment as I read this book. Reading of Mr. Saeed’s life - of my friend’s life - of so much that they have been through - of their lives from their road from Damascus - I can think of no better story that should be told. I tell you this not because I am biased, but because I truly believe these words despite my bias. Read this book, and reflect on the fact that this story is one of many, unfolding on the invisible pages of real people you may know and also real people you do not. How lucky and honoured we should be, that someone wrote it down.
1 review
October 8, 2022
Being the wife of the author, I’ve been hearing the stories he narrates in the book many times since I met him in 1997! Still, when I read the book, I felt caught to the point I didn’t want to leave it! Jamal is talented and blessed with an impressive and strong language and approach of storytelling, that feels like a lovely trap that I got myself into voluntarily since the first discussion we had in the publishing house where we met!
Reading the book introduces the reader, not only to the inner world of Jamal, but most importantly, to our lovely Syria as well as our simple, yet precious, Syrian people, who, Jamal and I, always thought they deserve to be freed and liberated from the brutality and suppression of the criminal regime.
So proud of Jamal, and thankful to have such a great man to be my husband and the dad of my two kids.
763 reviews95 followers
March 8, 2023
This is a powerful memoir, harrowing, tough but touching and beautiful as well.

Jamal Saeed is a Syrian writer who escaped to Canada in 2016 after having been imprisoned various times by the Assad-regime. Jamal seems like such a nice person, he is sharp, smart, charming and modern. His ideas are in fact too modern and, to his detriment, he is not afraid to speak out.

The story is not told in a chronological order, which was a problem for me. I understand the choice, because it allowed to alternate the more harrowing parts with lighter episodes. However, it also made that there is no propulsion and as a result it felt too long.

I also felt that the narrator, although his voice is incredibly low and beautiful, was overacting a bit and when he pronounced Arab words his voice changed completely which was distracting.
Profile Image for Courtney.
149 reviews
March 14, 2023
I listened to this memoir by Jamal Saeed, and let me just say that I feel like I have been a complete ignorant Buffon regarding the extent and intensities of the Syrian conflicts. Saeed's story flips from timeline to timeline and explains his time imprisoned, tortured, starved, and beaten in Syria. He lived in hiding for years. Yet throughout the whole of his story he was able to secure an education, have a family, and most importantly still have a strong sense of attachment to his country. His story is truly amazing, and I feel like I missed out slightly by listening to the audiobook instead of reading the physical book (which included a few images). Saeed is a poetic writer, and at times I wish I could have reread some of his sentences to let them sink - in.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and think it has left me with plenty of thoughts to ponder.
Profile Image for Sandy.
70 reviews1 follower
January 7, 2024
Incredibly thought-provoking and difficult to get through at times. This will stay with me.

Quotes:

“The poetry we live is more important than the poetry we read or write.”

“The concept of time changes, depending on one’s circumstance.”

“This was when I no longer had the slightest hope that my country was on its way to join the modern era. What I could see was that we citizens were all destined to be fuel for civil war, helping international players fulfill their own power play aspirations and smaller regional warlords to profit by convincing their followers to kill, rape, steal and extort for them.”

On borders: “I looked back the short distance to my country watching the lizards, birds, butterflies and flies going back and forth across the invisible borders without papers or official stamps. Perhaps we would become like them in the days to come.”
Profile Image for Pamela Paterson.
Author 7 books13 followers
January 3, 2023
I don’t often write book reviews, but I was so moved by this book I felt compelled to tell other people about my experience. This book is remarkable and moving, tracing the life of the author from the time he was a little boy in Syria through to his time imprisoned in deplorable conditions, and then an award-winning author in Canada. It’s poetically written, has twists and turns, and shows the author’s gentle nature. Highly recommend.
Profile Image for Erica Lindsay.
75 reviews1 follower
April 13, 2023
My Road from Damascus was intense, poignant, and compelling.

It tells Saeed's heartbreaking and intense tales of his life during Syria's most tumultuous years. Jamal Saeed is a refugee in Canada and lived to tell his stories of imprisonment, but this book is not simply a prison memoir. This book shares Jaml's entire life with you from early romances, teenage rebellion, and escapes to freedom.

The audiobook is well done and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Profile Image for Gi V.
659 reviews
September 1, 2024
I would love to read the next book if this were made into a series. I don't think you could start the story in Canada and really understand it, but ending like it does when Jamal and his family arrive in Kingston feels too much like a "happy ever after" fairytale and glosses over in a few paragraphs what I'm sure must have been tremendous challenges in adaptation and disconnectedness. Please write book 2.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kris Lodwig.
1,179 reviews3 followers
October 6, 2025
I listened to this memoir. Once I got past the voice overs to correctly pronounce names and words, and descriptions of pictures I clearly couldn’t see, I found his story to be amazing, the wisdom he got from his grandparents and parents growing up in Syria, the torture he withstood as a political prisoner for a decade, and finally leaving the only place he ever known to seek asylum for him, his wife and his children.
Profile Image for Poptart19 (the name’s ren).
1,095 reviews7 followers
February 27, 2023
4 stars

A beautiful and touching memoir of one man’s quest for freedom of speech & human rights in Syria. This is an amazing book.

[What I liked:]

•This memoir is beautifully written, both in terms of the prose and in terms of Jamal’s beautiful heart for his family & for his country. His love and sense wonder are clear in his writing.

•The amount of torture and trauma that this writer was put through, starting in his teens, is horrific & difficult to read. However, I think it is very important that such stories are documented & read. Jamal structured this memoir by interspersing happy stories from his childhood with the more tragic ones of his time in prison. This helped me as a reader to not get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of trauma he went through. Also, rather than distracting from or lessening the pain that he suffered, having those joyful moments intertwined in the narrative gives contrast and shows what he was holding onto in prison and what his motivations were to survive.

•While I have read some books about the recent Syrian Civil War and its origins, I didn’t know much about human rights & politics in Syria in the 70’s, 80’s, & 90’s which this book covers. I learned a lot about the cost of free speech in Syria in Jamal’s youth.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•As mentioned above, parts of this book are difficult to read due to descriptions of torture & cruelty. This is not at all a criticism of the book, I just want to make the content warning clear.

CW: torture, murder, suicide, child abuse, sexual assault, war violence

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]
Profile Image for Catherine.
291 reviews5 followers
October 13, 2024
This book took me a long time to read. The writing was very detailed and I could imagine the torture that Jamal was faced with and the lack of respect for human life brought by his jailers. Also toward the end I felt a relationship with his family members and was grateful that they were given an opportunity for peace by making their home far away from what they knew in another country.
1 review
October 9, 2022
The book is spectacular in showing the journey from the east with all the conflicts and sufferings to the west. The author is exceptionally talented in making you live all the events as if you were present. The use of the personal pictures of the family made reading the book enjoyable and livable.
Profile Image for Polly L..
2 reviews
October 4, 2025
Dan and I met him and his wife briefly, amazing life!

Amazing! Their story is so inspirational, so many people struggle with lives we don’t understand! Sending heartfelt prayers to you and your family Jamal!
2 reviews
September 27, 2022
It was a good read. Kinda scaryy at times to know what they went through just to live.
81 reviews
November 8, 2024
Audiobook Difficult to listen to for me. A lot of strong language, torture etc. I didn't finish the book.
Profile Image for Liz.
150 reviews
August 31, 2025
⭐️⭐️

2.5 stars

we spent so dang long in prison
951 reviews
October 4, 2022
In this memoir, the author tells of his life in Syria with some content about his childhood and family of origin and later on, he includes anecdotes about his wife and sons. In the majority of the book, Mr. Saeed tells of his time spent in prison and of the torture that he endured and survived. Fortunately, he and his family were able to leave Syria and settle in Canada following a near kidnapping of his wife and sons.
The book is not written chronologically which I think makes it somewhat difficult to follow at first. Initially, I couldn’t even figure out why Mr. Saeed was imprisoned. I finally understood that he was a political prisoner taken into custody for his communist views. The information about the prison conditions, mistreatment and torture was difficult to read but enlightening around the ongoing political issues in Syria. I felt like the story came together better in the end and enjoyed reading about the author’s family, home and lifestyle following his release from prison. I was also touched by the emotional details around leaving the country that he loves in order to protect his family. The description of their actual escape by passing numerous checkpoints and having to bribe officials at each stop was very good and had me on the edge of my seat.
Overall, the memoir is informative but I think readers would enjoy it more if it was written in the order of the occurrences of events. The book is long and some of the random information about things like past girlfriends seemed unnecessary and not important to the story of this man’s life. I also got lost in many of unusual names and the importance of including all the different people encountered by Mr. Saeed but will blame that on my Americanism.
Warning: this book contains graphic descriptions of violence.
Thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press for the Advanced Reader Copy of this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews

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