posted on 02 Apr 2017

Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird

Elizabeth Laird is a powerful storyteller because she always manages to pack her eventful novels with adventure, reflection and memorable characters.  Every one of her many books is written with panache using some wonderful prose along the way. This one, beautifully illustrated by Lucy Eldridge, is probably one of her best so far because the compassion for her subject shines through. Set against the backdrop of the current civil war in Syria, the main protagonist Omar and his family experience terrible loss and sorrow at leaving behind what was a very ordinary happy way of life. When they eventually arrive in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, they have to learn to exist very differently with an uncertain future ahead.

In the foreword Laird explains the background to the conflict which started with ‘a few schoolboys in the southern city of Daraa wrote a slogan on the wall of their school. It read: The people want theregime to change’. This is the city in which some of the story is set and the real incident is mentioned as people are talking about it, becoming frightened and concerned about the terrible repercussions which followed. Laird is clearly a campaigner writing to raise awareness of the effects of the subsequent events that have led to so many millions of Syrian people being displaced from their homes using one family as an example. As well as setting the context at the beginning of the book she includes a letter at the end to explain why she decided to write the story and suggests ways in which readers can help children affected by the war.

But it not just a story about war and there are mostly muted references to violence and destruction. It is a story about the relationships between the family members, all of whom play their part in making the reader care about what happens. Although fifteen year old Omar, is the narrator, he gives us plenty of information about all of them to make them complex three dimensional characters. He presents himself as a confident, rather lazy young man who much prefers working in his cousin’s tourist shop selling postcards rather than going to boring school. In fact, his entrepreneurial instincts prove to be very valuable later in the story when the family is trying to survive in the camp.  His dream is to be a successful businessman with a car ‘a big white one with darkened windows, and I’d get a gold necklace for Ma …’.  He is sometimes very jealous of his elder brother, Musa who is describes as ‘a total brainbox'. He could do difficult equations in his head as easily as blinking’ and doesn’t have to go out to work because he has cerebral palsy. We learn later that Musa too has a dream to become a professor of political science at Oxford University. His elder sister, Eman is also very clever, loves school and hopes to become a teacher. His five year old younger brother, Fuad irritates him although he is always good fun to play with and his youngest sister Nadia is only one and a half at the beginning of the story, but has her own part to play in the unfolding drama. His father is a local government official and seen through Omar’s eyes as being rather pompous, old fashioned and strict. His mother is at first a much softer character but often contradicts her husband’s views leading to frequent arguments. In other words, this is an typical family that muddles along from day to day with plenty of squabbling punctuated with moments of domestic harmony.

The story is about several journeys that the family are forced to make because of the need to escape the war and find safety. It begins in the old city of Bosra where they are happy and settled living very ordinary lives. Omar senses that things are about to change when he overhears a conversation in his uncle’s shop who then warns him to ‘never talk about politics at all, to anyone. Ever.’ The general unease is compounded when he learns that his dad is unexpectedly going to be transferred to another government department in a few weeks which means that the family is going to move to the city of Daraa and live at his granny’s house. Omar becomes aware that there are big political changes going on in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and that tourism is already affected – many other people are beginning to move out of the city.

They move to Daraa around the time when the boys write the slogans on the walls and Musa is mightily impressed. Another triumph of this story is that this young man, who has cerebral palsy, is an activist who becomes involved with gathering information for the rebels and continues to play his part in informing others about what is going on during the war. The acknowledgements at the end of the book include thanks by the author to an expert in disability in the middle- east which shows the extent of her research. The family become gradually used to the impact of living in a war:

‘You forget what it’s like to eat fresh stuff. You stop noticing the burned out shops, set on fire by the authorities for daring to go on strike. You step over piles of rubble and smashed paving stones without thinking about it. You ignore your dirty clothes and greasy hair. You don’t even flinch when you hear gunfire or an explosion, as long as it’s not too near.’

After about a year of existing in this harsh new world, the increased heavy shelling forces them into hiding and then to make a second journey to live with Omar’s maternal aunt and her family who have a farm in a rural area. This is another big transition to come to terms with as they have to live crowded into an old storeroom. Omar has to work with his cousin on the land and gradually gets used to a much slower pace of life. There are some relatively happy moments during this period, but the impending threat of an arranged marriage between Eman and the monstrous Bilal, aka ‘Mr Nosy’ 'with his rat like face and creepy eyes, thirty five years old at least and stinking of menace ' alongside the spread of terror from the city into rural areas means that they have to make their escape.

The third and most perilous journey is to the Syrian border where they cross to Jordan to the safety of the refugee camp.  The visceral terror of hiding underneath the tarpaulin as they are being driven away from the village is an example of Laird’s powerful use of language: ' It felt as if we were clinging to the back of a dragons lashing tail'.

Once they arrive at the camp everything becomes a ' bit of a blur' where Omar realises that they are in danger of being stuck nowhere like all the other refugees who keep arriving every day. He explains the insidious boredom, waiting, lining up for food, the overcrowded tents, lack of privacy and the filthy communal toilets. This is 'the slow despair of the camp' that causes many people, including his father to risk a return home, leaving the rest of the family behind.

But Omar and his siblings are all creative, resilient and optimistic in their different ways and this phase of their journey provides some unforeseen opportunities. I’m not going to spoil the story for you but I really hope that the author writes at least one sequel so that we can continue to get to know each of them and wish them well on their subsequent travels. It would be wonderful if this could eventually include a safe return to Syria.

Karen Argent

April 2017