Author Name: Rula Alamuddin

At a pivotal moment in his life, on his fortieth birthday, psychiatrist Raed pauses at the crossroads of his memory, delving deep into his life in search of the meaning of life, the secret of wisdom, and the significance of this number that has always been associated with new beginnings and great revelations. There, in the corridors of childhood, he returns to the home of his Sufi grandfather, the wise man who taught him the first lessons of the soul, and to his sorrowful father who lived broken, while Raed lived his childhood in the shadow of an absent mother whose story he never knew.
But the child he was, did not settle for silence; instead, he began his hidden journey in search of that absent mother. Through his intricate memory, the stories of three men unfold: the grandfather, the father, and Raed. Lives intertwine and destinies intersect, the past becomes present before him, and memories become a passage to uncovering buried truths. It is a novel about the psychological and spiritual legacy passed down from generation to generation, about inherited wounds, and love whose impact is never forgotten or fades.
The novel is written in a poetic, emotional, and philosophical style, interspersed with Sufi meditations and lessons that stem from the depth of human experience. It is completely devoid of direct dialogues, as memory is adopted as the primary narrator, not recalling words as much as recalling the feeling of them. As the narrative flows, events move towards an unexpected ending, bringing the reader face to face with the question of existence and the meaning of absence.