Road to Damascus

by Elaine Rippey Imady

Recommended by US Review of Books and First Runner-Up in the Eric Hoffer Awards legacy competition, Road to Damascus describes the Middle Eastern journey of an American who meets and falls in love with a Syrian when they are both attending school in New York. Giving up her country and her religion to follow her husband back to Syria, Elaine Imady has made a life that has successfully bridged two cultures and two continents. Raising three bi-cultural, bilingual children, Elaine has important insights to offer to readers from either the West or the Middle East about how we can all not only get along with each other but learn to love each other. Her life is symbolic of the best of what can be when two cultures come together.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

290 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2009

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost this book is a love story; of a man and a woman, of a family, and of a Syria and its culture. Road to Damascus offers a birds-eye view of everyday life in a Syrian home. The images of day-to-day life are beautifully rendered. The way in which guests are greeted in the home, the famous Syrian hospitality and meals, the multi generational caring for children and elders, and descriptions of the family stories give a greater understanding of the beauty of Syrian culture.
Secondly, it is an adventure. A young NYU student, then newlywed-US expat exploring her new home. What she thought would be an eight-year experience turned into a permanent one. Mrs. Imady was one of very few in her circle of American wives of Syrian husbands to live her life there. Mrs. Imady's positive experience is in no small part due to a wonderfully loving and supportive husband and his immediately loving and accepting family. This book describes the major political events that have effected Syrian life since 1960, without becoming political. I recommend this beautiful memoir.

[Ayham · Rating 1 out of 5]

لم أكمل الكتاب، أسلوبه ممل للغاية، ولم يعكس روح وجمالية مدينة دمشق، خصوصا في الفترة التي تتكلم عنها منتصف القرن التاسع عشر.

[J. A. Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Elaine Imady's accounting of her marriage to a Syrian man and subsequent move to his home country. I found her story really amazing especially considering the time period in which she met and married her husband. Elaine's accounting of her new life in a foreign country were interesting and educational. One couldn't help but fall in love with her husband's family as they were so accepting and wonderful to Elaine and her daughter. She gives great descriptions about the countryside which will make you feel like you are there. I admit getting bogged down with the lengthy history into the Imady family. After a while, I couldn't keep them straight and found myself skipping sections to get back to Elaine's life in Syria. I almost feel this could have been two stories. Elaine's story and then a separate book on the Imady family history as it was a very lengthy memoir.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great cross-cultural memoir. Elaine was a college student in the 50s when she fell in love with a Syrian graduate student. She married him and moved to Damascus in 1960. This book traces the first 15 years of their life together - the culture shock, the ups and downs, learning Arabic and traditional Syrian customs. I really enjoyed Elaine's writing style, and the book moves quickly.

Her sympathies are definitely with Syria when she touches on some of the Middle East conflicts of the 1960s and 1970s. I am used to a more Jewish-oriented perspective - about issues such as a look back at the creation of the state of Israel, for example, where she agonizes about the displacement of the Palestinians. That angle has not been part of my usual view - I welcome the new point of view.

[Hadil Diab-hadaya]

This book is good. The mundane is made interesting and the serious and intense times in life are sadly shared. The difficult maneuvers between two cultures and love abound. Well-written and enjoyable.

[Alison]

kindle 291 (memoir)