Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Refugee Ocean by Pauls Toutonghi - Available

The Refugee Ocean

by Pauls Toutonghi
Ali Andre Ali
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available
Two refugees find that their lives are inextricably linked—over time and distance—by the perils of history and a single haunting piece of music in this "breathtaking and simultaneously heartbreaking" (The Montecito Journal) story.
Born in Beirut in 1922, Marguerite Toutounghi lives a life of loss and sacrifice. She dreams of traveling Europe and studying music at the Conservatoire de Paris but her family—and her society—hold her back. When she meets the son of a Cuban tobacco farmer at a formal dance, love transforms her life. Together with him, she flees across the Atlantic Ocean. She's hoping for a new beginning, she finds revolution and chaos.

Over fifty years later, Naïm Rahil is a teenage refugee from Aleppo, Syria. A former piano prodigy who struggles to thrive in America—and who has lost part of his hand in the war—he dreams of a simple normal life.

Moving from Aleppo on the brink of civil war, to Lebanon in the late 1940s, to Havana during the Cuban Revolution, to the suburbs of Washington, DC, The Refugee Ocean "is an exquisite...poignant, and layered novel" (Eleanor Shearer, author of River Sing Me Home) that grapples with what it means to be an immigrant, shows how wounds can heal, and highlights the role of music and art in the resilience of the human spirit.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check out the rest of Cuyahoga County Public Library's digital offerings, like newspapers, streaming video, music, and more.