The Solace of Trees

This is a very powerful novel about war and its repercussions. This story follows a young Bosnian boy named Amir, who's family are Bosnian Muslims and a group that was targeted for ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian War in the early part of the 1990's where the province split along ethnic lines, and the Bosnian Serb forces began a methodical effort to seize control of as much territory as possible.
In this story we follow young Amir, eleven years old at the time of his families, death as he makes his way across the country muted by an explosion and unable to talk, sometimes meeting up with other refugees as they flee the horrors of what has happened.
Amir eventually finds a bit of refuge at a UN camp, after having done a small stint working on a farm and befriending another young boy in the same situation. Once at the camp, where he is sent to the USA by a charity group as he does not seem to have any living relatives.
Once in The United States, he is fostered by a couple of people, the second one a retired professor, decides to adopt him and does everything she can to get Amir the help that he needs for his pent up memories. In this relationship, grows a strong love between the mother and her adoptive son; extending to her daughters family as well. Amir soon begins to let go, but not forget his tortured past. He always seems to have a bit of hope for humanity despite what he has gone through.
He always kept nature close to him, and in this way he was able to feel closer to the family he lost, and the father who had taken the time to let Amir know the importance of staying still and listening to what is around you.
Once in college Amir finds a love for film making, and is able to express himself through short documentaries, which allow his feelings, about nature and war be felt by many.
Unfortunately while in college, and taking a class with a professor of Islamic Studies, Amir is asked to edit a film for his professor, on the plight of the Palestinians, but 9/11 has just happened and his professor is arrested for having ties with terrorist organizations, and Amir's name on the documentary does not look good.
About to take a trip back to Bosnia with his girlfriend also from his home country. They are excited to see the sites but also the town where he grew up and visit with her mother and sister, who had survived the concentration camp as well. When they arrive in the country, Amir is once again thrown into upheaval and the uncertainties and terror he escaped as a child.
This story is very hard to read at times, but so well executed, and the Author has given Amir that little bit of hope as a character for humanity. Very readable, you will not want to put it down until you find out where his life takes him.
Thank you NetGalley and New Europe books for the ARC of this book.

This was an amazing book. Very emotional, very heart wrenching, then heart warming, then back to heart wrenching. There was a point where I thought the story was going a bit slow; I wanted something to happen. But then suddenly the story was going too fast! I wanted it to slow down. When the book ended I wanted more. The only bad thing about this book!

The Solace of Trees: A Novel by Robert Madrygin


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American or Bosnian? The truth was, he felt neither completely one nor the other.

During the Bosnian war, Young Amir sees his family murdered. The Solace of Trees is where he finds shelter, hiding in the forest deaf and mute, all alone, suffering from severe shock. Nowhere is safe for him, a boy of Muslim heritage though he finds a sort of brotherhood in Josif. Together they step into further danger and Amir finds himself at a UN camp unable to communicate. Through art therapy, pictures- a therapist is able to extract a story from the young orphan. Pia finally has his name, so maybe she can make sense of where he belongs and can locate his family! But her hopes are crushed, only to discover the boy escaped a slaughter. Suffer the children, what sense can she make of what is in the children’s eyes? Pia is horrified by the pain and terror, defeat she sees in the eyes of grown men but to know a child lived through unimaginable horrors is unconscionable. His salvation is to live in America, a place foreign to a boy who has survived a war-torn existence. Amir is numb and has no idea what awaits him on the other side of the globe. This numbness remains, but with foster parents The Thorenson family in America he learns to sign and is met with patience. His future has felt for so long directionless, chaotic. Why silence embraced him he assumes is due to the explosions but in truth, it may well be trauma, grief and the horror of what he experienced, what no child ever should. Where will he go next, what does it matter to someone who has been wandering, anchored by nothing, haunted by horrors?

Dreams, memories haunt his sleeping nights… but now with Margaret Morgan, a retired professor, he is slowly feeling human again. Morgan is about to make a decision that will change both of their lives. Margaret fosters the young boy, through trying times, home-schooling, and joy she feels in their solitude she knows she must push him to become a part of the larger world. His treks into the woods, forests are a part of Amir’s nature, one that keeps him connected to his past, a world he shares with Margaret. Through her love, he finds strength but Amir gives as much to Margaret.

The future is open to him with film documentaries, a way for Amir to understand his past. In college he finds love but when he works on Dr. Ashrawi’s documentary and 9/11 happens everything spirals and the professor is in trouble for his connections to terrorist groups. When he returns to Bosnia with his girlfriend, the terror he thought was long buried returns, his involvement with the professor may be what leads him back to the horror and darkness he left behind. He was saved once, but can he escape again? Is there a reason to hope?

I always do a lot of soul-searching after reading about war torn countries and orphaned children of such atrocities. It’s never something people living in a free world can ever comprehend, we can watch as many movies and read as many books as we can get our hands on but it’s not the same thing. However, this novel attempts to share the experience through Amir’s eyes. To say it’s heartbreaking seems to minimize the reality non-fictional children live and breathe, so I will just say this is a sobering read, one that stays with you.

Publication Date: July 17, 2017

New Europe Books

Amir escaped with his life but lost his family in the Bosnian genocide in the 1990s. The story follows Amir and his journey, eventually being adopted by a retired psychology professor in Massachusettes. During the story of their relationship and Amir's experiences in college, I was almost lulled into the sense that this was a powerful story about a boy, but the ending reminded me that it was not. This is primarily a story about war. It's told through Amir's experiences, but it's meant as a broad statement about how war affects its innocent victims (and so many are "collateral damage"), including how our war on terrorism has affected so many who never deserved the nauseating treatment we gave them.

Amir's story is touching, but the narration is strangely flat throughout, switching points of view repeatedly to tell us what people are thinking and how they feel, so that we don't have to be shown: She is sad. He is repressed. She wondered why. So the writing isn't great. But I think another review nailed it when she said that this is an important book. There's a lot to discuss. The vehicle isn't exactly artful, but I absolutely recommend it.

I got a free copy to review from Net Galley.

A moving and well written book, this is the story of Amir, but also an uncompromising and at times heartbreaking examination of the brutality of war. The early part of the book deals with Amir's life in Bosnia, as the conflict engulfing the country moves closer to his home his family are drawn into the crisis with tragic repercussions. Still in shock from the death of his family, Amir flees to the only sanctuary he knows , the nearby forest, a place where he spent many happy hours with his father. Deafened by an explosion and mute from the trauma, he finally winds up working on a farm, but as the war draws closer again he must flee. After a dangerous journey he winds up in a refugee camp and is eventually sent to the US for treatment. Once there he winds up being fostered, and grows up into a strong young man, who never loses his love for trees and nature. However in the wake of 9/11 the American he has come to love and call his home becomes a very different place, and soon Amir finds himself under suspicion and in danger because of this.
The parts of this book set in Bosnia were incredibly vivid, and hard hitting without being grotesque. The reader is never left in any doubt that the worst victims of war are the civilians who find themselves caught up in it, and often left devastated in its wake, and Amir's story is a perfect allegory. The author does a great job of bringing the country and its people to life, and builds a vivid home for his character, which goes a long way towards helping us to understand and empathise with his situation. I thought the title of the book was perfect, as Amir's love for nature, and his feeling of safety in the woods is something that he carried with him from his old home to his new one. I felt that although Amir's early years in America were generally well described and dealt with, it would have been better to have a little more about his time at school and his interactions with his peers.
I did feel that the ending of the book was not quite as strong, and the conclusion,while it fit the story being told, left me feeling a little unsatisfied.
This is a solid 3.5 stars