As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow (2022) is a contemporary YA novel by Zoulfa Katouh that includes speculative, historical, and romance elements based on real events and is often classified under magical realism. The story follows Salama Kassab, an 18-year-old pharmacy student living in Homs, Syria, during the Syrian Revolution. She works tirelessly at a hospital to save lives. Amid the chaos, Salama loses family and faces the agonizing decision of whether to stay and help her country or embark on a dangerous journey to seek refuge in Germany to save her pregnant sister-in-law. Guided by her imagined companion, Khawf (Arabic for “fear”), she navigates the challenges of war, loss, shifting morality, and love. Among other accolades, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow was a British Book Award Nominee for Discover (2023) and a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2022).

This guide is based on the 2022 Kindle e-book edition published by Little, Brown and Company.

Content Warning: As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow discusses and depicts martial violence (shootings, bombings, etc.), sexual assault, self-harm, death, and mental health struggles related to the Syrian Revolution.

Plot Summary

Protagonist Salama Kassab is an 18-year-old pharmacy student living in Homs, Syria, during the first year of the Syrian Revolution. Salama’s hometown of Homs is in the “rebel” area, guarded by the Free Syrian Army who wants democracy. Every day, she puts her life at risk when she goes to work at the local hospital because of shootings, bombings, and other attacks from government forces. Six months earlier, she was going through her first year of pharmacy school, but now works as one of the few doctors at the hospital. Salama isn’t paid for her work, but helps out of empathy, medical responsibility, and survivor’s guilt. Under Dr. Ziad’s leadership, she performs surgeries, bandages wounds, and gives out medicine. Because of her harsh circumstances, Salama finds it hard to find happiness.

Salama lives with her sister-in-law and best friend, Layla, who is seven months pregnant. Six months ago, Salama’s older brother and Layla’s husband, Hamza, and Baba (the siblings’ father) were taken to a prison for being protesters. Salama’s mother also died during a bombing, which left Salama with a head injury. Since the head injury, she has hallucinated an embodiment of fear named Khawf (Arabic for “fear”). Only she can see Khawf, whom she thinks is a result of her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and skull fracture. Khawf comes to Salama almost every night, showing her memories of her losses, as well as her future if she doesn’t leave Syria. She witnesses her and Layla being sexually assaulted and tortured, her brother and father dying in prison, her mother being bombed, and more. These fears threaten to overwhelm her, but she remains steadfast in her decision to stay in Syria and help those in the hospital—until Layla pleads with her to get them a boat to safety, as she doesn’t want to risk her or her unborn baby’s life. At the hospital, Salama speaks with Am, a man who provides transportation to the coast and boats that bring refugees to Europe. He wants 4,000 dollars to transport Salama and Layla, which Salama doesn’t have. She continues working at the hospital, feeling helpless when she can’t save lives or procure more money.

One day, Kenan, a young rebel, comes to the hospital begging for help for his younger sister at home. Salama assists his sister Lama, who had surgery after shrapnel hit her stomach. She saves Lama’s life while Kenan and his younger brother Yusuf weep. After the follow-up surgery, she and Kenan bond over their mutual love of certain stories and movies, as well as their lost parents. Kenan films protests and uploads the videos to get help from outside Syria. With her newfound resolve to leave Syria, Salama wishes Kenan and his family would escape too. She’s attracted to him, but Khawf again warns her against staying.

One day, Am runs into the hospital with his injured daughter Samar, who was shot in the neck. Salama’s moral compass shifts, and she uses Samar as collateral: She’ll only treat Samar if Am promises her and Layla safe passage for a cheaper price. He agrees, and she saves Samar’s life. Salama is appalled at her actions, but Khawf tries to absolve her, stating no one died and that her survival is necessary. Am says a boat will arrive for her and Layla in a month, and Salama starves herself out of guilt.

Soon, Kenan starts videotaping people at the hospital to share their stories. He takes Salama on a date to the rooftops to see the sunset, helping her find happiness. She pleads with Kenan to escape with her and Layla, but his patriotism won’t let him. He agrees to let her take Lama and Yusuf, his younger siblings, but he will stay. However, after enduring bombings and a sarin chemical attack, he agrees to leave Syria.

In an act of defiance, Salama and Kenan attend a protest. They bravely chant, only running when shots are fired. The next day, he proposes to her, and they have a small ceremony in the hospital. At home, Salama speaks with Layla, who couldn’t attend the wedding due to pregnancy symptoms. When she introduces Layla to Kenan, he sees no one—as Layla was a hallucination like Khawf. She created Layla to repress the memory of her last loved one dying; Layla was shot when she was two months pregnant, over five months ago, and Salama blocked this memory. Layla comforts Salama and says goodbye, before vanishing. Kenan supports Salama in her grief over Layla.

Two days before they are set to leave, soldiers attack the hospital. When the soldiers try to hurt a young girl, Salama defies them and is nearly assaulted and Kenan is beaten. They narrowly escape and travel with Am past many checkpoints, reaching a fishing boat packed with other refugees. On the boat, they sing Syrian songs, cry, and pray as they leave their home behind. Khawf appears, telling Salama that he is the embodiment of fear and is everywhere; he’ll leave her soon, but he wants her to never forget that fear can help people survive. When the boat is shipwrecked, terror helps her, Kenan, Lama, and Yusuf stay alive. She courageously accepts their fate, but another boat saves them. Months later, Salama and Kenan live in an apartment in Toronto, which they decorate with Syrian decor and a painted Syrian poem on the wall to keep their home alive.