As I waited for my name to come up on the Guelph Public Library’s long list of holds for Omar El Akkad’s book One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, I turned to his beautifully written second novel What Strange Paradise instead. Many pages into this compelling read, I realized that I was holding my breath.
This is the story of Amir, an 8-year-old boy who is the lone survivor after a boat overloaded with migrants runs aground just off the shore of an unnamed Greek Island. The ill-fated refugees had attempted the dangerous journey from Alexandria across the Mediterranean. Amir snuck on board the vessel when he secretly followed his stepfather one night, not realizing at first that they were leaving behind Amir’s unsuspecting mother and baby half-brother.
As the local police search the beach and gather the bodies after the tragedy, they realize that Amir is alive. He has only moments to decide what to do. Operating on instinct, he runs into the forest, where he encounters Vänna, the unhappy adolescent daughter of expats. What Strange Paradise is the story of their escape from the authorities, their courage and resilience in the face of a host of setbacks, and their growing friendship.
Far more than an adventure story, this book forces the reader to confront some terrible realities –among them, the impossible choices which migrants face and which lead them to undertake these dangerous journeys, the unimaginable horrors they encounter on their way, and the mistreatment that awaits them if they survive. We also witness the growing bond of friendship between Amir and Vänna, the clear-eyed wisdom of children and youth, and the compassion, courage and kindness shown by people who have nothing to gain and everything to lose. We come to understand a little more about human weakness and cruelty in the character of Colonel Kethros, a man whose cynicism and past trauma guide his relentless search for the children. I cheered inwardly in those moments when fate seems to be on the side of the children and my heart sank
when it wasn’t. The novel’s unexpected ending made me reflect on my desire for everything to turn out ok.
What Strange Paradise is beautifully written and profoundly disturbing. It is no surprise that it was a 2021 Canada Reads finalist and winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize. But what will stay with me for a very long time, long after I closed the cover of this wonderful book, is the powerful role that fiction can play in helping us all to open our eyes, to confront and stay with some terrible truths, and to find hope in unexpected places.
And do this we must, in these times.
— Lise Betteridge lives and writes in Guelph, Ontario, having recently retired from a 34-year career in social work and professional regulation. She wakes up most days excited by the freedom and possibilities that come with this major life transition — among them the opportunity to focus on her writing.
You can read Lise Betteridge's story "Among the Shards" in Issue 304 (Summer Creative Nonfiction 2025). Order the issue now:
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