No one reached them.

This novel delves into the region's narratives, proposing a new and distinct account of Aleppo in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It weaves together stories of love stifled, death inevitably brought about by massacres, plague, earthquakes, and cholera, exploring the concepts of identity and belonging, and the questions they raise. It is not merely a novel about a battle—a club born from a massacre in Mardin, raised by a Muslim family in Aleppo—but a truly human exploration of the deluge, of human anxiety, of the illusion of survival from this flood and epidemic, and of the predicament of life within its confines. This small harvest leads us to a larger destiny for Aleppo, a city that, throughout its long history, has witnessed profound social, political, and religious developments. Khalifa observes these developments with innovative techniques in this epic haunted by the duality of love and death. This novel delves into the narratives of the region, offering a fresh and distinct perspective on Aleppo in the 19th and mid-20th centuries. It weaves together stories of promised love, inevitable death at the hands of massacres, epidemics, earthquakes, and cholera, and explores the concepts of identity and belonging, along with the questions they raise. It is not merely a story about a Christian child who survived a massacre in Mardin and was raised by a Muslim family in Aleppo; it is a truly human epic about the deluge of human anxieties, the illusion of survival amidst this deluge and its epidemics, and the predicament of life itself. The fate of the individual determines the fate of Aleppo as a whole, a city that has witnessed profound social, political, and religious transformations throughout its long history, transformations that Khalifa chronicles with innovative techniques that focus on the duality of love and death.