I read this a few months ago but the story of Aeham Ahmad remains vivid. The distance he had to travel just to take music lessons, accompanied by his father who is blind but not handicapped. He and his family's music business was affected because of the Syrian civil war but music continues. He continued to make music with his friends and taught music to children, which is their way of finding hope amid war and trying to hang on to normal life. ( )

This is the story of Aeham Ahmad, pianist, music teacher, seller of musical instruments and devoted husband and father. During the Syrian civil war he was pictured playing his piano in the ruins of Yarmouk, a Palestinian suburb of Damascus, which was besieged by the Syrian army loyal to Assad.

As the child of Palestinian refugees, always feeling that they were in Syria on suffrage, Ahmad’s life was never easy. Poor children from Yarmouk were not expected to attend the State School of Music in Damascus or the Conservatoire to which he aspired. As unrest in Syria starts to grow, Ahmad tries to ignore politics and focuses on his family life with a new wife and child. But the war comes closer and closer to Yarmouk, which is eventually cut off from the outside world, with the people that are left there deprived of even basic food and medicines.

This is an interesting story and sheds light on the refugee crisis, with Ahmad’s eventual escape to Germany. People ask why so many refugees are young men - reading this book makes it clearer why this should be. But it’s written by ghostwriters rather than Ahmad himself, and then being translated into English from the original German makes it seem a little clunky. So while the story is very interesting, the reader feels a little detached from its emotional impact. ( )

This autobiography of a brave and courageous young man - a striving musician - a man of tremendous compassion and conviction, is food for the soul. For years, our news sources have affronted us with visions of war-torn Syria to which, for the most part, we've become inured. This amazing and heart-wrenching story is a wake-up call to those of us far from the horror and pain of the Syrian conflict. It gives voice to the trials, struggles, sorrow and fear of the refugee people trapped in the war-zone of Yarmouk. This refugee section of Damascus still represents home to those who settled there and to those born and raised there. it is still home for those forced to flee. Author Aeham Ahmad is that refugee and this is his incredible story, thus far.

The story begins with a rich description of Aeham's youth; of his blind father's hope for his son's future as a concert pianist; of the struggles and sacrifices made in pursuit of that dream; and the dashing of that hope as the mortars and bullets fly and drive their dear Yarmouk to destruction and despair. People are fleeing yet Aeham's family chooses to stay. Life continues to worsen. The conditions Aeham's family and their neighbors endure are horrific and appallingly shocking. Yet through it all, this story carries a light of hope.

I was truly moved by Aeham's story. The videos of him playing piano amidst the rubble can be found on the internet and for me, greatly enriched the story as I read. If you would like to read a story of this ongoing conflict, written from the heart, then this could well be the book for you.

I am grateful to publisher Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for having provided an advance uncorrected reader's proof of this e-book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone. ( )