A masterpiece! A marvel of prose that mixes myths, stories, tales, legends, and a wonderful love story… You will experience a Scheherazade in sparkling colours – a big love story, which does not spare us the sharp knives of grief.’ Romeo and Juliet meets Arturo Pérez-Reverte and John le Carré in the dusty streets of Damascus… A rewarding and beautifully written, if blood-soaked, tale.’ RAFIK SCHAMI was born in Damascus in 1946, came to Germany in 1971 and studied chemistry in Heidelberg. Today he is the most successful German-speaking Arabic writer. His novels have been translated into 21 languages and received numerous international awards. He is the author of The Calligrapher’s Secret, Damascus Nights, and Damascus: Taste of a City.

It is important to note that financial abuse is a form of domestic violence and can have serious consequences for both the victim and the abuser. Victims of financial abuse may suffer from anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues as a result of the abuse. They may also struggle to rebuild their financial independence and regain control over their lives. The dark side of love teaches you the value of compromise and forgiveness. Your relationship requires work, your relationship requires effort. It’s not always kisses and chocolates, if you want to be blessed with true love, brace yourself for the dark side of love too. Schami's work is in itself a love letter to a Damascus which in the course of his book survives the turmoil of occupation by the French, the terror of a never-ending series of brutal dictators and their Secret Service goons, short-lived union with Egypt and the birth of Israel. Yet so richly painted is Schami's picture of Damascene life that through all its turmoil and tragedies, the city never loses its allure. Compromising, of course, is a choice. You either choose to make it work or you choose not to. I believe this fully. As long as something doesn’t go against your core values, you can try to go along with it. But there are still some cases when compromising isn’t enough. 2. Letting Go The Dark Side Of Love: Your inability to forgive is why you can’t be with someone you loveHa habido partes que me gustaron mucho, especialmente al principio, el inicio de las luchas entre los Mushtak y los Sahin; algunos personajes, como el amor incondicional de Matta, la amistad perdurable de Josef; e historias concretas, puntuales, como la llegada al colegio cerca de la frontera con Jordania... This is the perfect book to get lost in, well written with a good mixture of characters and with a bit of a twist in the tail. Jessica Rushton's next book The Lies You Told Me is even better, clearly an author to watch. The characters are believable and sympathetic. I ached for Harriet and Stella in particular. More than one scene had me crying. This is not a blub fest though, there are light and funny moments, it covers the full gamut really. Have I learned interesting facts of history? No! I have been told in a few short sentences about the conniving behavior and bribery of those in power, but there is no continuity to the historical facts. There is little substance to show me how the people were affected by life under these leaders. They merely appear and disappear.

While at the beginning, I had some trouble getting into the story of the family feud between two Christian families in Syria which began at the end of the 19th century and keeps influencing generation after generation, the book and its characters started to grow on me after having ploughed through the first third of the novel. While I found the repetitiveness of violence and forbidden love a little bit tiring at first, it became one topic of many in the course of the book. I truly enjoy the Oriental way of telling a story - the narrator kind of meanders through urban Damascus and rural Mala, stopping here and there without obvious reason, thus creating a vivid image of the city, the country and its history. I've found this novel in a series dedicated to world's cities, and Damascus is definitely the hidden protagonist of the book. The prose is beautiful and evocative, and makes one smell the odours of the city, hear the chatter of the women and the noise of the children playing in the streets and the sheer vastness of the novel with its dozens of characters and sidelines reminds me of the labyrinth of Oriental medinas - definitely a book which makes one long for a journey to its settings.For me the main theme was finding oneself - who you are, what you want, and what you're willing to put up with to get there. Financial abuse can have serious consequences for both the controller and the victim in a relationship. Because it seems like a lot of hassle, liking someone. Your brain runs hot, the cogs inside your mind jarring together until all the oil of your thoughts is burned away. The fire spreads to your chest, where it chars your lungs and turns your heart to embers. And right when you think the flames have burned away everything but your skeleton, the spark skips from your bones to immolate not only your flesh, but your entire life.” ― Krystal Sutherland, Our Chemical Hearts

As the book starts all the couples; Izzy and James, Harriet and Wills and Stella and Jonny are all settled in life. Caroline, James' sister is single and feels on the edge of the group due to her status. The story unfolds and we see that none of the couples are quite as secure as first impressions suggested and secrets and lies test their relationships. Told in chapters covering the key times when the group are bought together such as New Year's Eve the reader is left with gaps, this device moves the story along nicely without becoming bogged down with the minutiae of daily life. I will not have you without the darkness that hides within you. I will not let you have me without the madness that makes me. If our demons cannot dance, neither can we.” ― Nikita Gill During counselling sessions, both parties can discuss their financial concerns and come up with a plan for managing their finances in a way that is fair and equitable. This may involve setting up a joint bank account, agreeing on a budget, and dividing household expenses fairly. The abuser may also benefit from learning about healthy financial boundaries and strategies for managing their own spending habits. The novel develops through countless doomed affairs and periods of suppression, both individual and collective. In the 'Book Of Laughter', there are beautiful anecdotes about Damascene childhood; in the 'Book Of Hell', a nightmarish portrayal of life in Syria's secret prisons. It involves an extraordinary amount of sex, but this is not the kind of gratuitous or perfunctory copulation prevalent in so many philosophical modern novels - there are no 'Bad Sex Awards' here: the sex in this book is straight-forward and stallion-esque, which only the most tiresome prude would deny is not entirely in keeping with Schami's exploration of passion's extremes: the price for such ecstasy is often certain death. Really enjoyed it, not quite as much as the previous two- (Luxury will always be my favourite, I just adored the glamour and insane wealth and indeed 'luxury'.)I appreciate the author's hard work and all of what he went through to get the information he needed, and his obvious love and yearning for Damascus, but at the end of the day, I was disappointed with this novel, I came so close so many times to just quit it, but decided to get closure and finish it. Unfortunately, financial abuse is often overlooked or misunderstood, and many people do not realise that they are experiencing financial abuse until it has escalated to a dangerous level. Therefore, it is essential to understand the signs of financial abuse and how it can impact both parties in a relationship. Moreover, financial abuse can harm the controller's relationship with their partner, as it erodes trust and can lead to resentment and bitterness. It can also impact their relationship with their children and extended family, as financial abuse can cause significant stress and tension within the family unit. Financial abuse can also lead to physical and emotional abuse. In some cases, abusers may use money as a tool of control to coerce their partner into doing things they do not want to do or engaging in sexual activity against their will. This can lead to further trauma and harm to the victim.