Stranger in the Desert: A Family Story

Inspired by family lore, a young writer embarks on an epic quest through the Argentine Andes in search of a heritage spanning hemispheres and centuries, from the Jewish Levant to turn-of-the-century trade routes in South America

One Thanksgiving afternoon at his grandparents' house, Jordan Salama discovers a large binder stuffed with yellowing papers and old photographs--a five-hundred-year wandering history of his Arab-Jewish family, from Moorish Spain to Ottoman Syria to Argentina and beyond.

One story in particular captures his attention: that of his great-grandfather, a Syrian-born, Arabic-speaking Jewish immigrant to Argentina who in the 1920s worked as a traveling salesman in the Andes--and may have left behind forgotten descendants along the way. Encouraged by his grandfather, Jordan goes in search of these "Lost Salamas," traveling more than a thousand miles up the spine of South America's greatest mountain range.

Combining travelog, history, memoir, and reportage, Stranger in the Desert transports readers from the lonely plains of Patagonia to the breathtaking altiplano of the high Andes; from the old Jewish quarter of Damascus to today's vibrant neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. It is also a fervent journey of self-discovery as Salama grapples with his own Jewish, Arab, and Latin American identities, interrogating the stories families tell themselves, and to what end.

Author: Jordan Salama
Publisher: Catapult
Published: 02/20/2024
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.79lbs
Size: 8.43h x 5.59w x 1.02d
ISBN: 9781646221653


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 09/01/2023 pg. 22
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2023
Booklist 02/01/2024 pg. 12
Shelf Awareness 02/23/2024

About the Author
Jordan Salama is the author of Every Day the River Changes, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. His work has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, Smithsonian, Scientific American, and on NPR's All Things Considered. He lives in New York.