Take What You Can Carry

A Novel

By: Gian Sardar

Narrated by: Vaneh Assadourian

Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

An aspiring photographer follows her dreams and faces her fears in a poignant novel about finding beauty, promise, and love amid the chaos of war-torn Kurdistan.

It’s 1979. Olivia Murray, a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper, is determined to become a photojournalist and make a difference with her work. When opportunity arrives, she seizes it, accompanying her Kurdish boyfriend, Delan, to northern Iraq for a family wedding, hoping to capture an image that lands her a job in the photo department. More important, though, the trip is a chance to understand Delan’s childhood and bridge the differences of their pasts. Yet when the return home proves less safe than Delan believed, Olivia is confronted with a reality she had not expected. She is awakened to the dangers of a town patrolled by Iraqi military and under curfew and constant threat.

But in this world torn apart by war, there are intoxicating sights and scents, Delan’s loving family, innocence not yet compromised, and small acts of kindness that flourish unexpectedly. All of it will be tested when Olivia captures a shattering, tragic moment on film, one that upends all their lives and proves that true bravery begins with an open heart.

©2021 Gian Schwehr (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Glimpses of love and endurance

A wonderful revelation of character and event in a country and people under constant attack. Living under persecution, always being watched, always compromised, yet still loving and forgiving. Described by an innocent who learns, sees.
This book reveals a world we can’t know.

An outstanding book

This is a great book. Rich with geography, history and culture of Kurdistan; engaging, complex characters; a touching romance; compelling tension; intense fear; lasting love and hope.

I rarely reread books (too many books, too little time!!!) but I plan to reread this one. About halfway through the book, I noticed that the author was very intentional; nearly every character, scene and conversation had significance. A detail as seemingly minor as watching a flock of birds became meaningful later in the book. I want to go back and pick up on those details. My first read was on Audible; next time will be on Kindle.

Incredible

What an astonishing read!! I loved the way this book flowed through the story. Well developed characters whom I was able to connect with. Well written book. I found that I enjoyed listening and experiencing going through the thoughts and decisions of the main character, was intriguing. This is a story that makes you feel it with all of its tugs on your heart in good and sad ways. I will read more by this author and recommend this book.

Beautifully written

This is a beautiful story of love, loss, tragedy, fear and hope. Well written to keep you involved until the end. Excellent performance as well.

Riveting

I don’t often write reviews but this listen was one of the best I’ve heard! I would highly recommend this book! The performance was flawless!

Great book

I enjoyed this book from start to finish. Did not want it to end. Great read

An excellent read.

Suspenseful, tragic, and sad with a lovely love story interwoven throughout the story. To know that events such as written actually happened and in some cases continue to be a fact of life in the middle East is difficult to understand.

Took me a bit to enjoy it, but it won me over

Upon first listening, the clipped nature In pronunciation of the narrator was disruptive to the story. When the story became set in Iraq, I realized the reader is not a native English speaker, but probably her first language was Arabic and her crisp enunciation then made sense. She captured the various character voices exceptionally.

The main character, Olivia, grew on me as well. I felt the author was slow to develop WHO Olivia was, spending more time on developing the plot dynamics, and thus, it was difficult for me to see why Delan was so taken with Olivia, who didn’t seem to be that substantive. By the end of the story though, I felt very connected to her.

I have never been to Iraq, but spent some time in Lebanon, so I could identify with the beauty of the people and the socio-political dilemmas they face. This story helped me understand much about Iraq and was the Kurds have endured. It was touching and not surprising to learn that most of the events in the book happened to the author’s family.

beautiful

touching and poignant view of Kurdish struggles in the late 70s. eye-opening and gives new appreciation to other cultures

read, don't listen

I had the option of reading this on my Kindle or listening. I really disliked the narrator - her tone of voice, her accent, and her way of reading were all jarring and distracting to me. I often really appreciate a narrator with an accent that matches the characters and settings, but in this case, she's narrating an American woman, and it wasn't a good fit. It is a wonderful book, though, with a gripping story line and really well-developed characters. I highly recommend reading it.