Through the Veil

2011 Oregon Book Award Finalist

In Damascus a Muslim woman rises before dawn and performs a ritual washing before covering her head in prayer. A Kurdish man smiles with interest at the American researcher visiting his niece, but over time his smile turns to disapproval. A student from Damascus University invites her American friend home to break the fast and stay overnight in the village.

As part of an ethnographic research team, Lisa Ohlen Harris was able to see the true face of Damascus. A few years later, she returned to live in Jordan with her husband and small child. In Through the Veil, Harris provides a long and honest look at scenes usually hidden from Western eyes. The essays collected here dispel stereotypes, focusing on the real people of the Middle East.