Book review: ‘Ascension to Death’ tells the story of a woman with no freedom

Mamdouh Azzam delicately convinces the reader that Salma ‘is a sad bird in a wicked hunter’s cage.’ (Shutterstock)

• Syrian novelist Mamdouh Azzam tells the story of a young girl in Syria
• Azzam’s account of Salma’s life, her fate and the lives of the villagers is almost like a secret confession

CHICAGO: When his novel was originally published in Arabic in 1987 as “Mi’raj Al-Mawt,” the acclaimed work furthered the fame of celebrated Syrian novelist Mamdouh Azzam. Now, just over thirty years later, the book has been published in English with the title “Ascension to Death” and it is gripping a new audience as it unravels the story of a young girl’s fate in a southern Syrian village. In this heartbreaking tale, Azzam plays out the devastating love story of Salma and the conservative Druze village in which she is born and in which she will die.
Azzam first introduces Salma to the reader as a captive. She has been locked in a shed, her body has begun to wither and her will to live is slowly fading away. All she has are her memories of fleeting happiness, a rarity in the life of the young orphan girl who was abandoned by her mother and raised by an uncle who has never shown any affection. To Salma, marriage is her savior, not a husband, because to choose the man she wants to marry is not an option.
Azzam’s account of Salma’s life, her fate and the lives of the villagers is almost like a secret confession. He reveals the terrible truth of his main character’s life and the almost automatic complicity of the villagers as they destroy her for falling in love with the wrong man.
The villagers constantly betray Salma, meaning her relationships are often fleeting and built on shaky ground. The author writes of an environment where love is an open enemy, happiness is only meant for those who can buy it and traditions — however outdated — are treated with unfaltering respect.
Azzam delicately convinces the reader that Salma “is a sad bird in a wicked hunter’s cage” and that life can be full of misery, especially when your neither your life nor your fate is for you to decide.