The Scent Of Jasmine: Coming Of Age In Jerusalem And Damascus

"A vibrant collection of vignettes evokes the author’s childhood in Damascus, Syria, and Jerusalem and her coming-of-age in Amman, Jordan, and Cairo in the 1950s and ‘60s. Each chapter is linked by the era’s heady political atmosphere, which Ameri’s family fully participated in, and the aroma of jasmine, which grew in abundance in the courtyard of her grandfather’s elegant Damascus home. Now a sociologist and journalist, Ameri writes with tenderness, energy and wit about her secular Muslim family, and her stories are filled with often-poignant surprises: the dramatic marriage between her wealthy Syrian mother and socialist Palestinian father, the open secret of a lesbian relative, the pleasures of visiting a Syrian ice cream shop established in 1885 and Ameri’s eventual move to the U.S. to work as an activist. More than anything, this memoir is a love letter to Damascus and Jerusalem, two cities that tug on the heart of the world, and a warm, wistful look back at a Middle East that has virtually disappeared."