The Wrong End of the Telescope

I was immediately engrossed in the fascinating mediation on the Syrian refugee crisis, told through the lens of Mina—a trans lesbian woman and an American doctor of Lebanese-Syrian origin--called to the island of Lesbos, Greece to provide medical support to refugee families.  I loved Mina and the other unique and complex characters, especially Mina’s big-hearted brother who travels from Lebanon to Lesbos to reunite with his sister; Mina’s compassionate and wise wife; and Sumaiya, a strong Syrian mother holding her family together while dying of cancer in the refugee camp. Passionately told in short chapters introduced with evocative titles, this is a mind-opening tapestry of a novel, beautifully told.