“Amazing is a hidden treasure in Aleppo,” says one of the novel’s heroines. In her work, Maha Hassan tries to bring this amazement through writing and memories to re-draw Aleppo and its ancient popular neighborhoods, its rituals of living, the simplicity of its people, and their small dreams, before the war comes and destroys all of this in its path.
Relying on a unique technique inspired by the names of Arab and international novels and the titles of the chapters, the heroes of “The Amazing Neighborhood” tell us their story from “Zarqa’s Imagination” and “Beirut Nightmares” to the house of “Sleeping Beauties.”
It is a story about love, childhood memories, intentional killing, the emotional placenta, and the role of literature in our lives
