The Shell: Memoirs of a Hidden Observer

This compelling first novel is the astonishing story of a Syrian political prisoner of conscience - an atheist mistaken for a radical Islamist - who was locked up for 13 years without trial in one of the most notorious prisons in the Middle East. The novel takes the form of a diary which Musa keeps in his head and then writes down upon his release. In Tadmur prison, the mood is naturally bleak and yet often very beautifully captured. The narrator, a young graduate, is defiant and stoical, and somehow able to pick out humour and irony in the shocking events and characters he describes.