Unbroken Threads

by Jennifer Klepper

Overview

Jessica Donnelly’s life is beginning to unravel. When the attorney turned stay-at-home mom tentatively volunteers to represent Amina Hamid, a woman seeking asylum, Jessica must learn an unfamiliar area of the law. Soon, rising opposition to Muslim immigration and unexpected prejudices put her relationships on shaky ground.

Amina fled Syria with little more than memories that now fight against the images splashed on the news. Seeking a secure future and freedom from guilt and grief, she must learn to trust others amidst the reality of fear and hate.

To find stability, Jessica and Amina will both need to harness their own strengths, which may lie in connections that transcend generations, cultures, and continents.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781948051118
Publisher:	Red Adept Publishing
Publication date:	07/29/2018
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.77(d)

Editorial Reviews

"A terrific debut, and so very timely. With smart writing and compassion, Klepper offers us a look into the hearts of two women: a Syrian immigrant hoping to find a home in the USA, and the volunteer lawyer whose work brings a second chance at life not only to her client, but to herself as well." -- Julie Lawson Timmer, author of Mrs. Saint and the Defectives

"Unbroken Threads delivers an honest and intimate portrayal of the American response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis. By turns harrowing and heartwarming, it's a powerful and important novel that book clubs and discussion groups will relish." -- Amanda Skenandore, author of Between Earth and Sky

From the Publisher

2018-10-03

In Klepper's debut novel, a stay-at-home mom longing for greater purpose returns to work as a pro bono lawyer and finds herself representing a Syrian refugee seeking asylum.

Jessica Donnelly worked as a high-priced corporate lawyer for a white-shoe firm but walked away from her career in order to raise her three children. Ten years later, she feels unfulfilled, especially as she watches her husband's career bloom. She decides to return to work as a volunteer for the International Asylum Project, a nonprofit organization devoted to assisting refugees seeking safety in America from political persecution and war. Jessica takes Amina Hamid's case. Two years ago, Amina fled the violent tumult of Syria to stay with relatives in Baltimore. She's reluctant to accept Jessica as her lawyer—her previous lawyer was uselessly incompetent, and she's unimpressed by Jessica's complete lack of experience. Jessica convinces Amina to give her a shot, but the odds are heavily stacked against asylum seekers, and Amina is painfully reticent when it comes to revealing the details of her flight from Aleppo, information necessary for Jessica to mount a successful case. Slowly, Amina discloses the horrifying truth—soldiers murdered her younger brother, attacked her mother, tortured her father, and her husband simply vanished one day—a gruesome tableau affectingly described by Klepper. Jessica tries to help not only win Amina asylum, but also find a job, and both encounter shrill prejudice that sometimes crescendos into violence. The author sensitively captures the anxiety the nation experiences regarding immigration from countries plagued by anti-Western extremism; Jessica's husband, Danny, an educated man who works in cybersecurity, surprises her with the depths of his skepticism. Also, Klepper artfully depicts the ways even the quotidian aspects of life can be challenging for the radically displaced: When Amina is asked to provide her college transcripts as part of a job application, she tersely replies: "No. I... I do not know that I can get a transcript sent. There's a war."

A poignant exploration of a timely political topic.

Kirkus Reviews