Damascus

‘Done with aplomb, it has both logic and charm…will no doubt delight foodies’
The Spectator

‘Urban history has never been so mouth-watering’ 
The Guardian  

Rafik Schami lived in Damascus for twenty-five years before he was forced into exile in Europe. Damascus: Taste of a City is a paean to the city he loves more than any other, the city he pines for.

Able only to conjure the distant memories of his home town, Schami’s sister Marie Fadel, wanders the city on his behalf, relishing in the curiosities, sounds, personalities, tastes and smells of their childhood, relaying them to her brother over the phone as she walks. He wrote them down, revelling the diverse mark left on Damascene cuisine by the city’s multifarious history.

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 Dark Side of Love, The Calligrapher’s Secret, and Damascus Nights.

MARIE FADEL is the sister of Rafik Schami and lives in Damascus.