“[T]he gem of the Arabic literature of dissent... [Sarmada] isn’t narrowly political and doesn’t paint a portrait of the uprisings themselves. Instead, it gives us something much more valuable: a detailed view of the entire mechanism of a culture—its connection to the land, its way of telling stories, and its idiosyncrasies. ... Channeling Marquez and Borges, Azzam winds the plot audaciously, bringing the story to highly surreal and disquieting places.”

– —The New Yorker on Sarmada

“Fadi Azzam proves to us that there are still undiscovered gems in Arabic literature… beautiful writing, long stifled by dictatorship, has just begun to free itself from the grips of censorship. Sarmada and its women dance in front of us with all their senses; they take us by the hand and escort us into their village homes, where the events of this great novel take place.”

– —Rafik Schami on Sarmada

“Brimful of magic, Sarmada is a book to be swallowed in rapturous gulps. It’s beautifully written … This is a very Syrian novel, illustrating sectarian co-existence and providing glimpses of the country’s mystical and literary wonders … Sarmada is, indirectly, an early novel of the contemporary Arab revolutions.”

– —The Independent on Sarmada

“Huddud's House is one of those beautiful texts that paint the darkness of reality without confining it to the Syrian space … Difficult love stories intersect as the author takes the reader on a journey through the depths of the human soul that desires, craves, hates, is jealous, and fights for those desires ...”

– —Fadhila El Farouk

“A landmark work of contemporary Arabic literature, at once allusive and defiant … An enigmatic novel of resistance by the prizewinning Syrian writer in exile. Huddud’s house is a real place in Azzam’s elegantly unfolding story, a ramshackle maze containing 170,000 Arabic books and 12,000 manuscripts … Given the subversive themes that punctuate a narrative that, at its best, is reminiscent of García Márquez, it’s small wonder that its author has fled Syria for the safety of Britain.”

– — Kirkus Reviews

“Azzam brilliantly conveys the growing apprehension and tension of a society gradually slipping into totalitarianism.”

– — Booklist

"Huddud’s House is not just enjoyable; it’s essential reading."

– — The New Arab

“Huddud's House by Fadi Azzam tells the story of the Syrian war and its impact on people's lives, focusing on love, friendship, and survival—a post-Arab Spring revealing the human side of the Syrian war … [I]t also touches on Islam, Sufi teachings, the Gulf and European countries, love and sex, prisons and torture, and the Western media’s distorted portrayal of the war in Syria. It blends history, action, love, and politics with poetic language and vivid imagery. The masterful translation by Ghada Alatrash from Arabic to English beautifully captures the novel’s essence. Huddud’s House is not just enjoyable; it’s essential reading.”

– — The New Arab